Crisis Intervention · February 12, 2026

Hannah and her daughter and brother were almost evicted, till Jewish Family Service helped. When Hannah lost her Section 8 housing voucher due to paperwork delays, her rent jumped overnight to market rate: $1,180 a month.

Food & Financial Assistance · April 24, 2025

Over 40 volunteers, including Gabrielle and Eddie Rivin (pictured), collected, packed, and delivered Passover food, including meals and items needed for the ritual seder, to those who needed them.

Holocaust Survivors · August 23, 2024

“I learned about the Shoah [the Holocaust] at a very young age. I can't even remember the first time I heard about it,” said 19-year-old Neele Ehlers, who grew up in Cottbus, Germany—a town about 12 miles from the eastern border with Poland. “The Shoah is so ingrained in our education, but it's something that’s very heavy and hard to deal with—especially when I think about how the people that did this were my ancestors.”

Food & Financial Assistance · May 06, 2024

On Sunday, April 14, a community-wide effort to make Passover possible for all who wished to celebrate kicked into high gear. Starting at 9:00 a.m., more than 50 volunteers arrived at Jewish Family Service Heldman Family Food Pantry to package, bag up, and transport Passover food to fellow community members. Five hours later, the 26th annual Dr. Samuel S. Rockwern Passover Delivery Project of Jewish Family Service (JFS) was another resounding success.

Giving & Volunteering · November 30, 2023

In some ways, 13-year-old Elon Katz is a typical Cincinnati youth. As an eighth grader at The Seven Hills School, Elon is perfectly capable of enjoying an after-school chill-out session with his video games. He also likes to draw. And, well, that’s about it for the ordinary stuff. Elon, you see, is anything but typical. He likes to code video games for fun. He is a serious student of classical piano, and enjoys the weekly lessons his grandmother kindly offers him.

Giving & Volunteering · January 05, 2023

Sadie was happily making her seventh-birthday party plans with her family when a compassionate little switch flipped in her mind. Yes, birthday invitations had already been sent out a few weeks prior. And, yes, parental expectations were solidifying around fun ideas that were age-appropriate, child-focused, and celebratory. But that didn’t stop Sadie from abruptly turning to her parents and announcing with resolve, “I don't need any birthday presents. I need to do a mitzvah!"

Food & Financial Assistance · November 15, 2022

As Thanksgiving approaches and more people strive to give thanks and give back, Jewish Family Service (JFS) wants to thank everyone in the community who participated in this year’s Sukkot Food Drive. The food drive looked a little different this year, taking place at the Mayerson JCC as part of the 10th annual Under One Roof community art exhibit. “We’ve partnered with Adath Israel in the past,” said Erica Nyberg, Agency Development Director for JFS.

Giving & Volunteering · August 08, 2022

Jim Ellis and Howard Goldwasser don’t know each other, but they share a private compulsion: they are serial volunteers. At the moment, they also share a common benefactor: Jewish Family Service Heldman Family Food Pantry. The men, both retired, have been independently donating their time to the food pantry in a variety of ways, whether it’s helping people shop; gathering and packing up orders; or making deliveries directly to homes.

Giving & Volunteering · February 10, 2022

Jewish Family Service (JFS) of Cincinnati has recently convened the Create Your Jewish Legacy (CYJL) committee to encourage community members to talk with their families about a legacy commitment to JFS. CYJL is a nationwide program initiated in 2014 by the Grinspoon Foundation with the goal of building endowments that will sustain Jewish organizations locally, and secure a reliable financial future for Jewish communities across the country.

Food & Financial Assistance · October 27, 2021

Linda Kean doesn’t believe in fate, but an experience with synchronicity last year still has her smiling. Kean, who is Vice President of Operations and Youth & Family Programs with Jewish Family Service (JFS), explained how JFS benefitted from fortuitous timing earlier in the year. “In April of 2020, I had an inspired idea. I said to our Heldman Family Food Pantry staff, ‘We really need to redesign the food pantry."