News & Impact

Check this page frequently for upcoming events and services. Jewish Family and Children’s Services in Sonoma County continues to provide on-going support for those who have been affected by the North Bay fires and are in need of recovery assistance. Our expert case managers and clinicians are working directly with individuals in need of trauma support and counseling, short-term loans, housing support, gift cards, food, transportation, and skilled technical assistance and advocacy. HOW TO GET HELP Contact JFCS for help at 707-303-1500 or email [email protected]. JFCS’ Santa Rosa office is open at 1360 N. Dutton Avenue, Suite C, Monday… Read More

Jewish Family and Children’s Services and our community in the Bay Area are helping the victims of the devastating hurricane and flooding along the East Coast. Please donate to help thousands of people who have been affected by this season’s hurricanes. The impact is catastrophic and recovery will take a very long time. Those battered by these hurricanes face immense flooding and damage to their communities and desperately need our help now and in the months to come. Click here to donate now!… Read More

Our lives can feel upside down or even unlivable if someone seeks to harm us through bullying or deliberate behaviors to maintain a pattern of power and control—the definition of domestic violence. That’s why every day JFCS’ programs work to prevent cycles of abuse so that children, teens, adults, and seniors have the support they need to make healthy choices, leave abuse behind, and live their best lives. For Domestic Violence Survivors, Leaving Is Just the Beginning JFCS’ Dream Program changes the cycle of abuse by providing critically needed support to women and their children so they can rebuild their… Read More

Four years ago Joan became one of the every six Americans diagnosed with Alzheimer’s disease each year. The 69 year-old’s symptoms progressed quickly and her husband of over three decades, Brian, retired early from his job in order to care for her while their adult daughter lives with them in their Foster City home for added support. But living on a fixed income while coping with the challenges of caring for their loved one with dementia proved more taxing than the family had imagined. As Joan’s dementia advanced, it became more difficult for her family to connect with her, taking… Read More

Rywka’s Diary: The Writings of a Jewish Girl from the Lodz Ghetto—first published by the JFCS Holocaust Center—has been awarded this year’s Historical Award by Polityka, Poland’s top newsmagazine. The handwritten diary—miraculously discovered intact amidst the rubble at Auschwitz—is a moving account of the life and dreams of 14-year-old Polish girl Rywka Lipszyc. After more than 70 years in obscurity, the diary was finally published in 2014 and soon after became a worldwide success. The diary has gone on to be translated and published in 15 countries, including Poland. The award, initiated in 1959, is the oldest award in Poland… Read More

Gerson Bakar z’l, a Beloved Visionary, Remembered You might not know of Gerson Bakar z’l by name but you have almost certainly seen his work in San Francisco. Levi’s Plaza, the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art, the UCSF Mission Bay campus—these are just a few of the iconic San Francisco institutions that Gerson helped bring to life. Gerson, who passed away last June, supported many charitable projects yet it was giving back to his Jewish Community that brought him the most satisfaction, saying, “Asking me why the ‘Jewish Community’ is important to me is like asking me why the… Read More