Support for fellow Jews

MIRA ORECK SPECIAL TO THE JEWISH BULLETIN

The Jewish Family Service Agency (JFSA) helps thousands of people every year through its counselling services, vocational assistance, Kosher-Meals-on-Wheels and other programs. JFSA witnesses firsthand the need in the community. Its current fund-raising campaign asks other community members to see it too – and to do something about it.

On Nov. 23, JFSA hosted a community mission in the Lower Mainland to educate people about the often invisible hardships that exist in our own backyard. Mission participants – including heads of Jewish organizations, politicians and dignitaries from across the Lower Mainland – gathered at the Jewish Community Centre of Greater Vancouver (JCC) for a day-long event aimed at making the invisible palpable.

The mission, organized by JFSA board member Jeremiah Katz, began with role-playing sessions that offered a taste of life as a JFSA client. The participants then split up into two groups to learn about violence against women in the community and the difficulties Jewish immigrants face.

A series of home visits to JFSA clients ensued and many participants commented that this was the most meaningful aspect of the day. They travelled together in small groups to witness assets of the Jewish community that JFSA supports: Each group visited a client who receives basic needs support, a senior citizen living in isolation and a family of new immigrants.

According to George Mate, a mission participant and chair of the Jewish Coalition on Poverty, the home visits "were especially revealing in showing the plight of the people that JFSA serves."

Mate visited an Argentinian family of four who came to Vancouver in March 2003. They had sent an e-mail to JFSA prior to leaving Argentina, anticipating their need for help integrating into the community. They arrived with their two children, ages three and seven, and found their way to the JCC. Soon, they were sitting with Tami Amit, the basic needs counsellor at JFSA, who provided them with addresses of homes to rent, a connection to JFSA's host family program and a stepping stone into the Jewish community of Vancouver. To show their appreciation to JFSA, the family opened their doors to teach members of the Jewish community here about the difficulties of immigrating.

"This mission was an excellent idea and a way for the community to understand the work that JFSA does," said Mate. "However, this is just one piece of a much larger puzzle."

From now through Jan. 15, JFSA is running its annual Friends of the Family campaign. This campaign offers a critical opportunity to support programs such as the Jewish Food Bank, which feeds more than 150 children and their families each year, counselling for 800 families in emotional crisis, vocational assistance for 250 unemployed individuals, and more than 2,500 Kosher-Meals-on-Wheels delivered to isolated seniors.

The theme "We see it. Do you?" headlines this year's campaign, reinforcing the invisible nature of hardship suffered by so many in the community and the urgent need to address it. The goal for JFSA's campaign is to raise $250,000 entirely in support of social services.

"I often hear that JFSA is the best kept secret in the community," said Joseph Kahn-Tietz, executive director of JFSA. "This concerns me. Clearly we have to get the message out that there are Jews in need, and that JFSA is providing vital services to thousands of individuals every year.

"The mission and the campaign are our most recent attempts to educate our local community that we need their support, that the services we provide are crucial. We as Jews have a responsibility to help those in need."

Mira Oreck is a Vancouver freelance writer with an interest in community development.

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