Jewish Family Service of San Diego (JFS) CEO Michael Hopkins is a 2024 Regional Task Force on Homelessness (RTFH) Lifetime Achievement Award recipient. RTFH is honoring Hopkins with the award for his tireless efforts to combatting homelessness in San Diego County.

The California Welcoming Task Force is a binational coalition dedicated to re-envisioning how the U.S. can welcome people seeking asylum safely and expeditiously at our border by coordinating across sectors: humanitarian, legal, health, advocacy and communications. We must efficiently welcome people seeking refuge and ensure people have access to a fair and organized process if the U.S. is to continue championing itself as a defender of human rights. Jewish Family Service of San Diego makes a statement within this press release.

The California Commission on Aging has named Dana Toppel, JFS CEO Designate, as Vice Chair. Dana brings years of experience, wisdom, and leadership to support CCOA mission to support California’s older adult population.

“The Role of Compassion in Social Change,” this year’s luncheon hosted by the Center for Jewish Care, features Rabbi Dr. Shmuly Yanklowitz in conversation with Michael Hopkins, CEO of Jewish Family Service, about how acts of compassion can bridge divides, heal communities and drive systemic change.

“Every person in the Safe Parking Program has a unique situation, and we make a plan with them based on their circumstances,” says Nichole. “The average length of stay varies greatly as some guests are disabled or seniors on a fixed income waiting for an affordable housing unit, while some guests just need a temporary place to stay for three to four months to save money to enter back into more stable housing. Challenges guests often face include a low-volume of available, affordable rental units or a low credit score that prohibits someone from meeting income requirements for a rental agreement, especially when they require two or three times the monthly rent.”

“The last three weeks have been filled with reflection, as November often brings. But this year feels different. It demands more courage from each of us.” This is how Dana Toppel, CEO Designate/COO, begins her discussion of how, as a community, we need to “stand side by side, grounded in our shared humanity, (and) become unbreakable.”

Jewish Family Service of San Diego (JFS) and other local immigration advocacy groups reaffirm their commitment to supporting refugees and asylum-seekers at the U.S.-Mexico border. Michael Hopkins, CEO of JFS, emphasized the organization’s dedication to offering compassionate services, legal representation, and resettlement support to vulnerable families, ensuring that those seeking refuge are met with dignity and care.

Illegal border crossings have plunged to the lowest level in four years, according to new data released by U.S. Customs and Border Protection. To understand how that fact squares with the fraught political rhetoric, KQED looked at the current dynamics of migration at California’s border with Mexico. Several factors are contributing to the turnaround. For one, since the beginning of the year, Mexico has cracked down on migrants heading for the U.S. border. And in June, Biden issued an executive order barring access to the asylum process for those who enter illegally when crossings are high. CEO Designate Dana Toppel comments about Jewish Family Service’s role, “To us, it’s about dignity. It’s really about centering the individual and being very trauma-informed.”