Strengthening Lives in Times of Need...
Since 1943, Jewish Family Service has played a vital role in responding to the constantly changing challenges and stresses of everyday life experienced by individuals and families in Greater Cincinnati.
Our professional and experienced staff can strengthen your life in times of need - at every age and stage.
Call us today for a better tomorrow. 513-469-1188.
In times of need, Jewish Family Service is There!
Click on the arrow, clap along, and see how our community counts on Jewish Family Service to be there to strengthen lives in times of need:
As a Friend of JFS, you help strengthen lives...
7-year-old Emma was hungry. Too often. So were her younger sisters and parents.
Emma's parents hid their hunger from their rabbi, neighbors, friends, and even other family.
Fortunately, Jewish Family Service was there.
Learn more or
Donate online now to 2018 JFS Friends campaign and help others like Emma.
Celebrating Hanukkah together as a community...
Center for Holocaust Survivors
Tables decorated with dreidels and festive centerpieces; live piano entertainment; lighting the hanukiah; and a lunch buffet filled with delicious food (including latkes and kugel of course!), welcomed a filled room of Holocaust survivors at Adath Israel. This was one of our Center for Holocaust Survivors' Friendship Club activities. See more photos.
Barbash Family
Vital Support Center
Participants at our Barbash Family Vital Support Center shared memories of holiday celebrations and laughter when they sat down together with volunteers to enjoy a traditional Hanukkah meal.
Cincinnati Hebrew Day School
A 4-foot high "Canorah"! Thank you to the students at Cincinnati Hebrew Day School for creating a menorah made of cans of food to "light up the community." The cans were later donated to our Heldman Family Food Pantry. The children gathered around as Fran Gafvert read a Jewish version of Stone Soup called "Bone Button Broth" that shows the value of coming together as a community to help each other.
Another Success! 2018 Dancing with our Stars...
Eight generous community members raised nearly $201,000 through individual donations and sponsorships to help Jewish Family Service strengthen lives in times of need when they volunteered to dance on stage for the 2018 Dancing with our Stars gala on Saturday, November 3. This event was vital to help fund our many important programs including Heldman Family Food Pantry, Barbash Family Vital Support Center, and Center for Holocaust Survivors.
Thank you to all our dancers, co-chairs Meryl Juran and Judy Kadetz, staff, and supporters.
Coping with a Crisis
Jewish Family Service is trusted by our community to be there to strengthen lives in times of need.
To help you and your family cope with the recent tragedy at Pittsburgh's Tree of Life Synagogue, Jewish Family Service's knowledgeable social workers are available to listen, counsel, and offer you support.
This crisis can especially be difficult for children and for Holocaust survivors. Please read and share this list of suggestions to help them cope.
Why David Harris is a mentor with Bigs & Littles:
"Sitting around the table, a handful of students and their mentors are transformed into a family at JFS bigs and littles mentoring program. Later, we’ll do an activity on what “trust” means, or learn about setting goals, and then we’ll play a game of dodgeball or Uno. But, for me, dinner with the students is the time that feels the most precious and where the most learning and opportunities for connection can occur. Together, we talk about our day, or about the news and discuss issues and questions that arise… Or we debate the merits of the latest video game their obsessed with. And in these conversations, when they’re guard is down while food is distracting them, are innumerable moments that are modeling and shaping a future."
Holocaust survivors' personal stories recorded for history
Bonnie Rupe partnered with Jewish Family Service Center for Holocaust Survivors to create beautifully written "books" recording their personal stories and family photos.
German volunteer bonds with Holocaust survivors
After working with Holocaust survivors at Jewish Family Service, Sven Iding, a 21-year-old volunteer from Germany, is now able to better understand what it is the survivors experienced.
Volunteer to help Holocaust survivors stay connected to family, friends, and the world
Is using an iPad easy for you?
Volunteer with our Tablets and Technology: Alleviating Isolation in Holocaust Survivors project and teach survivors how to use an iPad to help them stay connected to family, friends, and the world.
Russian speakers are especially needed. Learn more.
Read more about the Tablets and Technology: Alleviating Isolation in Holocaust Survivors project in this spotlight article by The HealthPath Foundation of Ohio.
JFS director of Aging & Caregiver Services was featured live on radio...
Personalized solutions for older adults
Jewish Family Service is excited to lead AgeWell Cincinnati, a central solution that helps links those 60 and better – along with their family members, friends, and caregivers - to community resources for aging well in Jewish Cincinnati.
This new program, AgeWell Cincinnati, was created by the Cincinnati Jewish Senior Service Coalition. Whether you or a loved one are looking for a thought-provoking class, a ride to the grocery store or medical appointment, a new home, or ways to live independently, you’ve come to the right place. Learn more about AgeWell Cincinnati
BE A BIG! A vulnerable child needs your friendship!
Be a BIG and help a Little (boy or girl from ages 9-12)
develop
social-emotional skills necessary to succeed in school and life.
Have a question about MEDICARE?
Jewish Family Service has been approved by the State of Ohio as one of only a handful of sites in the Tri-state area to provide Medicare counseling and information; and the only Jewish communal site in Southwestern Ohio. Learn more
Managing Senior Adult needs requires more than hiring home care services.
Jewish Family Service has an
experienced team of aging life care managers, Your Experts in Aging, to oversee the full range of demands and
responsibilities associated with aging.
Donate your car to Jewish Family Service
Want to get rid of an old car? Donate it to Jewish Family Service Cincinnati! Donating your car, truck, motorcycle or other vehicle is easy - even if it won't start! All you need is a clear title and we'll do the rest, including free pick-up. Once it is sold, we'll send you a tax receipt and the sale proceeds will go directly to helping those most in need in our community.
A few notes of appreciation from our clients...
We asked clients and volunteers to write personal notes explaining how Jewish Family Service strengthened their lives.
Below is a sampling of the heartfelt messages we received:
Creating Your Jewish Legacy to keep the flame alive
We all strive to leave the world a better place – through our children, our good deeds, our generosity.
Thank you to our supporters, such as Mona and Dick Kerstine, who have created a Jewish legacy for Jewish Family Service so future generations will say of us, "The world is a better place because, for a brief time, they lived in it."