Jewish Culture & Community · April 19, 2021
Alan Weiner has lived on East Galbraith Road in Amberley Village for more than 25 years—just around the corner from the Jewish Federation of Cincinnati, the Mayerson JCC, Jewish Family Service (JFS), StarPoint Home Care, and AgeWell Cincinnati—a coalition of partners overseen by JFS that includes the JCC, JVS Career Services, and Cedar Village. When Alan was the ritual director at Adath Israel, one of his students was Liz Vogel—the current CEO of JFS. But in December of last year...
Older Adult Services · March 15, 2021
Isolation is as bad for you as smoking 15 cigarettes a day. Lonely people are 50 percent more likely to die earlier than those with healthy social relationships. Data from the Health Resources & Services Administration shows more than 3.4 million people struggle with social isolation, loneliness, and living alone—and that was before the onset of COVID-19. More recent numbers show loneliness and social isolation have increased 20 to 30 percent, and emotional distress has tripled during COVID.
Caregiver Support · January 08, 2021
“If you don’t take care of yourself, then you can’t take care of anyone else,” explained Leslie Brody, LISW-S, LICDC-CS, the Director of Care Management, Counseling & Crisis Intervention at Jewish Family Service. “A lot of people who are good at being helpers are not always comfortable being helped.” That’s why AgeWell Cincinnati is teaming up with Jewish Family Service to create two new virtual support programs: one for caregivers and another for people who are struggling with grief.
Post-Adoption Services · December 06, 2020
“Jewish Family Service is committed to keeping these family histories alive,” said Amanda Huecker. Huecker is a Post-Adoption Social Worker at Jewish Family Service and works with families who are part of what she calls the adoption triad.
“The adoption triad is made up of adoptive parents, birth parents, and the adoptees,” she explained. “The services we offer are varied, depending upon the level of privacy that triad has set up."
Older Adult Services · November 21, 2020
The human body has been called an incredible machine and with 206 bones, over 600 muscles, and more than 4,000 tendons, it surely is that. But to function effectively, these attributes of the body must operate against a strong central core. And the relative importance of a strong core only increases with age; core strength promotes balance, prevents falls, prolongs lives, and even helps with incontinence.
Giving & Volunteering · November 15, 2020
“Young people can inspire others, just like adults can. They have a ton of power. And I think sometimes we forget how much good a single dollar can do—or a single can of soup.”
Chrissie Blatt couldn’t help but beam during a recent interview about her daughter Ella’s bat mitzvah project for Jewish Family Service: a canned soup drive to support Jewish Family Service Heldman Family Food Pantry at the Barbash Family Vital Support Center.
Older Adult Services · October 15, 2020
In May of 2017, Evelyn Seltzer was living in Boca Raton, Florida, and her daughter, Amy Perlman, was living in Cincinnati. Perlman was Seltzer’s only living child, and with a thousand miles separating them, she had become familiar with the strain of being a long-distance caregiver. The arrangement worked for a time, but then came May of 2017, and the day Perlman learned her mother was in a Boca Raton hospital with severe lung inflammation.
Food & Financial Assistance · October 12, 2020
“I have a great appreciation for what I consider an immutable fact: people who can feed themselves have a greater sense of independence,” stated Ben Kaufman.
Ben is the master gardener of the community garden of the Barbash Family Vital Support Center, located on the Hebrew Union College–Jewish Institute of Religion campus. The garden helps provide hundreds of people in our community access to fresh vegetables through the Jewish Family Service Heldman Family Food Pantry.
Education & Learning · September 18, 2020
COVID-19 has changed nearly every aspect of our lives, and for some of the people in our community, those changes could be deadly. That’s why Jewish Family Service (JFS) quickly transitioned most programming online to continue its mission.
JFS is committed to strengthening people’s lives in times of need, as well as supporting senior community members.
Russian Jewish Culture · September 09, 2020
“In terms of who may be in need of our help, we have seen COVID-19 affecting people across our community,” said Jewish Family Service CEO Liz Vogel. “There are so many people who have been impacted who do not know where to go for help.” According to the 2019 Cincinnati Jewish Community Study, 28 percent of Jewish households have insufficient savings for three months to cover unexpected or emergency expenses. “At Jewish Family Service, we want to make sure those who don’t have that...