Dear Friends,

One year ago, we launched a new strategic plan and made a clear commitment: to meet our community’s social service needs in a holistic, integrated way—all under one roof. It’s a goal which is both simple and profound, and which reflects the values of chessed (lovingkindness) and tzedakah (charity and justice) that JF&CS is built on. I am so grateful to our community for sharing these values, and for helping us to be a lifeline for thousands of people in their most vulnerable moments.

This year has tested our shared commitment in real and sometimes sobering ways. The needs around us didn’t just grow, they surged. More than 600 Holocaust survivors previously unknown to JF&CS turned to us for help meeting their most basic needs. Nearly 800 families have come to rely on our Family Table program for groceries each month, up from about 500 just four years ago. And nearly 3,500 people came to JF&CS to address their mental health needs.  

As I’m reminded every day, behind each of these numbers is a person, a family, and a moment of real uncertainty.   

Their surging need has unfolded even as government funding became more constrained and less predictable. Key funding streams have shrunk overnight, and others are at high risk.  

Yet with your support, we protected vital services, grew our impact, and continued to innovate, even when difficult decisions were necessary. This year, we embedded social workers in partner synagogues, launched clinical support groups for struggling new parents, expanded supported living options for people with disabilities, and so much more.  

Thank you to the many donors and volunteers who stepped forward—again and again—to ensure that JF&CS could respond with the scale and urgency this moment requires. Every family served and every moment of stability restored carries your imprint.

To me, our work at JF&CS is a living expression of our Jewish values in action—not as a theoretical concept, but as a daily, hands-on responsibility. Thank you for believing in JF&CS and for standing behind our work during an especially demanding year. You have truly met this moment, and because of you, so have we.

Gail Schulman
Chief Executive Officer