In this series of op-eds about providing vital humanitarian services and creating a community that welcomes the stranger with dignity, Norma Chavez-Peterson, Executive Director of the ACLU of San Diego & Imperial Counties, urges the “Biden administration must loudly defend the CDC’s decision to lift Title 42 in the court and the court of public opinion.”

We need to think smarter about how we invest in our social programs. In this article from Ms. Magazine, Chief Operating Officer at JFS and Chair of San Diego for Every Child, shares her thoughts about ending childhood poverty and how we can help. “Investing in children and families earlier has huge cost savings from the upstream effects it has on ensuring children have access to resources in their early years.”
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Life as an asylum seeker can change in an instant. Ceidy Zethare was in a Tijuana laundromat when she found out she would be entering the United States the next day. In this moving story of Ceidy’s journey, we follow Ceidy as she enters the United States and is taken to a hotel used by the San Diego Rapid Response Network Migrant Shelter Services operated by Jewish Family Service of San Diego.

At Jewish Family Service’s Heart & Soul Gala, JFS celebrated the contributions of its 2022 Mitzvah Honorees: former JFS board member Marcia Hazan, and Danielle and Brian Miller of Geppetto’s toy store. Read more about 2022 Mitzvah Honorees here.

Jewish Family Service of San Diego held its annual Heart & Soul Gala at the Hyatt Regency La Jolla at Aventine on April 30. The Gala raises funds to support JFS’s effort to provide resources and support to San Diegans of all ages, faiths, and backgrounds.

Their preparations are moving forward even as a federal judge is expected to rule—perhaps as soon as the end of the week—on whether Title 42 will actually end as scheduled. If the judge doesn’t intervene and the policy is lifted as planned on May 23, it would not constitute a new asylum policy; rather the shift would bring things back to pre-pandemic operations for asylum seekers at the border. “We anxiously await and are eagerly preparing for the full termination of Title 42,” says Kate Clark, senior director of immigration services at Jewish Family Service of San Diego, a group that has been instrumental in assisting asylum seekers for years. Kate Clark’s interview continues and there are additional statements by members of the California Welcoming Task Force.

Jewish Family Service of San Diego presented its annual “Heart & Soul” gala at the Hyatt Regency La Jolla at Aventine hotel on April 30. Click here to see event photos.

Direct cash pilots often expire without building grassroots support for the program. This new framework aims to energize voters and turn them into advocates. Khea Pollard, director of San Diego For Every Child, discusses the role Income Movement has had in the launch of our program.

Mayor Gloria recently visited Jewish Family Service’s Safe Parking Program. There he met Rudy Sanchez and his wife Maria Carmen who used the lot for 9 months before returning to stable housing, a low-rent apartment subsidized by the Section 8 voucher program. “When I see people in their cars, I tell them to go to the Jewish Family Service right there on Balboa. They are great people and they will help you,” said Sanchez.

In her latest opinion piece for The San Diego Union-Tribune, Dana Toppel, Chief Operating Officer for Jewish Family Service and founder of MAKE WORK WORK FOR MOMS, addresses the pandemic statistic that millions of women have been driven out of the workforce due to disproportionately taking on more caregiver and domestic responsibilities. She sits down with Reshma Saujani, founder of the Marshall Plan for Moms, to discuss three things we can do now to show up for working moms.

The Jewish Family Service of San Diego’s Center for Jewish Care delivered 600 Seder packages, filled with traditional food items such as matzoh, grape juice and Gefilte fish, and 360 kosher Passover meals to seniors ahead of the holiday. Each package also contained handwritten cards and Haggadahs, which tell the story of Passover. The center was launched recently to offer services to support the Jewish community, such as its year-round home-delivered meal program for homebound seniors. This year, more than double the number of meals were delivered for Passover, with help from donations from the San Diego Jewish Academy, Shevet Galim Israel Scouts of San Diego and Congregation Beth El.

Jewish Family Service is featured in this list of ways to give back in San Diego for it’s volunteer opportunities helping to deliver meals to isolated older adults. If you have a couple hours during the week, you too can help deliver nutritious meals to older and disabled adults.

As the unprovoked Russian invasion of Ukraine enters its eighth week and intensifies, the resulting refugee crisis has become the fastest-moving exodus of European civilians since World War II. Jewish Family Service of San Diego, along with the San Diego Rapid Response Network (SDRRN) Migrant Shelter Services, is helping hundreds of asylum-seeking Ukrainian families who have made their way to San Diego.

Thousands of refugees who have left Afghanistan since summer are celebrating Ramadan in the U.S. Some are marking the holiday from their new apartments, others from hotel rooms, as resettlement organizations struggle to find them permanent housing in an expensive market. Etleva Bejko, director of refugee and immigration services for Jewish Family Service of San Diego, said the biggest challenge for resettlement agencies has been finding housing for refugees.“There has been a shortage of rental units available,” Bejko said. “It’s not an Afghan evacuee issue; it’s not a refugee issue; it’s a California issue.”

The City encourages anyone experiencing homelessness and living out of their vehicle to use one of the free Safe Parking Program lots operated by Jewish Family Service, where they can also access resources such as shelter, housing, employment, and other wraparound supportive services.

For weeks, drivers have felt a pinch at the pump and this burden is taking its toll on non-profits trying to help people facing food insecurity. Jewish Family Service of San Diego has seen the demand for food climb with a 20% increase in need from the community over the past few months.

“For a lot of people this is their first time coming out and asking for food and that’s really in response to the increased gas prices and increased cost of living,” said Kristine Stensberg, the Senior Director of Nutrition and Aging for Jewish Family Service of San Diego.

President Biden said the United States will accept up to 100,000 refugees from Ukraine, and many are expected to arrive in San Diego.

Since the war started, Moores has helped 12 families get out of Ukraine and into the U.S. She has been teaming up with Jewish Family Service to help families receive critical services and respite shelter through the SDRRN Migrant Shelter Services, which is operated by Jewish Family Service.

You may recognize an orange van at local grocery stores when Jewish Family Service volunteers pick up 4,000 pounds of fresh food per week to be re-distributed to those in need. “After the pandemic, starting in March of 2020, the need for food has doubled. Families are struggling to make ends meet, even more recently with the increase in gas and food. The cost of everything is higher. Families are needing to ask for help,” said Jewish Family Service’s Tom Stewart.

Algunas empresas y organizaciones sin fines de lucro que ofrecen servicio de transporte están sufriendo también por el aumento en los precios de gasolina.
Organizaciones que ofrecen este tipo de servicio para personas de la tercera edad o con discapacidad, funcionan a través de voluntarios, de los cuales están escasos en parte por el alto costo del precio de la gasolina.

Daily record-breaking gas prices are taking a toll on so many people and businesses in San Diego, including transportation services tailored for elderly and disabled people. Kristine Stensberg, Senior Director of Aging, Nutrition and Transportation for Jewish Family Service is interviewed.

Advocates say asylum claims & exemptions are not uniformly enforced at border crossings. So far this year, the San Diego Rapid Response Network has assisted 453 Ukrainians at the border.  That compares to 878 Ukrainians assisted during all of 2021, according to Kate Clark, the group’s Director of Immigration Services. Advocates are calling for the immediate repeal of policies that have allowed migrants to be turned away from the border before seeking asylum.

San Diego immigration experts called Friday for an end to Trump-era immigration restrictions as potentially thousands of desperate migrants from Ukraine and Russia begin to arrive in Tijuana.

Kate Clark, senior director of immigration services at Jewish Family Service, said that “Our recently arrived guests from Ukraine tend to be female heads of households with their children. Their spouses have stayed behind to fight for Ukraine’s continued independence.”

San Diego’s first guaranteed income pilot program launched on March 15 with 150 households across the County receiving their first monthly installment of $500. “I am super excited to see families actually get the money that they’ve been waiting for and us to be able to support them in this way,” said Khea Pollard, Director for San Diego for Every Child. The $2.9 million program is run by Jewish Family Service of San Diego with funding from the state’s budget surplus and Alliance Healthcare Foundation and gives families the choice to use the money in a way that works best for them.

In this 15-minute audio news feature, we hear an extended interview with Marinya, a Ukrainian asylum-seeker who made it into the U.S. with her 10- and 8- year-old daughters. They received assistance at the SDRRN Migrant Shelter Services operated by Jewish Family Service. Additionally, Kate Clark, JFS senior director of immigrant services, is interviewed about the pressing reasons why Title 42 should be lifted so that asylum seekers from around the world can seek safety and security.