Our Barbash Family Vital Support Center is a place where everyone can feel accepted and understood. We strive to address the needs of people experiencing poverty, hunger, or mental illness — in a Jewish cultural setting. Studies conducted by the Vital Support Center show that socialization and spiritual needs are as important to achieving wellness as nutrition, diet, and exercise. The center offers a holistic approach to wellness by placing care management, emergency financial assistance, supportive counseling, a food pantry, health classes, and therapeutic socialization activities all under one roof. This dynamic combination of comprehensive services allows our professional social workers and care managers to guide our clients toward security, self-sufficiency, and ultimately stability. 

The Barbash Family Vital Support Center is conveniently and discreetly located on the campus of Hebrew Union College, in a beautifully renovated space, where parking is easy and convenient. The Center is situated near the community services our clients frequent for general health care, behavioral health care, and benefits administration. It is served by three bus lines, and is accessible to the more than 120 ZIP Codes served by Jewish Family Service. 

Not all food pantries are created equal:

Located within our Vital Support Center, Jewish Family Service Heldman Family Food Pantry serves the Greater Cincinnati Jewish community, as well as our neighbors from the surrounding Clifton area. In 2003, the food pantry opened its doors to a few dozen people in need of food assistance. Today, the food pantry serves over 500 individual clients per year. And, we are the only regional food pantry to include a full array of kosher food.