The nearly 120-year-old Jewish Family and Children’s Services of the East Bay, a longtime beneficiary agency of the Jewish Federation of the Greater East Bay, will begin operating as an independent nonprofit corporation Oct. 1.
The federation will remain a major donor and partner to JFCS, providing technical and moral support. However, ultimate financial responsibility will now fall upon the agency itself, which serves some 2,700 clients each year.
The separate incorporation of JFCS is in keeping with the decade-old master plan of the East Bay federation. It is one facet of the “restructuring which will make us look like 99 percent of the Jewish communities, including San Francisco, which has had that structure for a very long time,” said Ami Nahshon, executive director of the East Bay federation.
“Separate incorporation,” he said, “is a tremendously empowering step for agencies,” which may not have felt they were in full control of their destiny.
Ted Feldman, JFCS executive director, welcomes the challenge. The agency has been under the aegis of the federation since 1923. The last few years have generally been difficult, with an increasing number of nonprofits vying for a decreasing amount of funding. Currently, JFCS solicits contributions directly through targeted mailings, and “parlor meetings” in which small groups come together to learn of the agency’s contributions to the Jewish community. At the end of the last fiscal year, contributions were up 21 percent and revenues for fees for service had risen 19 percent over the prior year.
Nonprofits, Feldman said, are intimately involved with volunteers, including board members, who provide hands-on assistance and financial help. In a large corporate setting, the buck can often be passed. “Volunteers,” he said, “feel a deeper sense of commitment when they are ultimately responsible.”
Feldman believes such commitment will ultimately assure the agency’s success.
JFCS plans to expand its current program, using multipronged approaches to meet operating expenses. Potential sources of income include government contracts, interagency cooperative programs and grants.
“The agency is at a critical point financially,” Feldman said. “We believe that the only way to go forward is not to go backward.”
During 1997, it will hold a celebration to honor its 120th anniversary as well as its new status as an independent nonprofit.
Discussing the agency’s work over the years, Feldman said it has served those in need at many critical periods, including after World War II, which brought a surge of refugees from Europe. More recently the agency assisted with the resettlement of Jews from the former Soviet Union.
Slightly more than half of the agency’s current operations center on the Russian Resettlement Program, funded by and through the East Bay federation. This program prepares new immigrants for the job market, polishing their resume-writing and interviewing skills, and offering assistance with government and citizenship issues. A case manager is assigned to help each family through the initial adjustment stage, usually four to six months. The manager connects the family to such community resources as housing assistance and English language classes. The agency’s staff of psychologists and counselors is also available.
In addition to emigre services, JFCS provides counseling, psychotherapy and social services for children, families, adults and elders. Issues range from relationship counseling to assisting children with behavior problems to helping adults make decisions about the care and treatment of elderly parents.
“Part of the mission of this agency is to care for the most vulnerable,” Feldman said. “We serve the broadest age and family-status range.”