About Us

[Language refreshed by the JFCS East Bay Board of Directors in 2022 to guide our desired community impact]

OUR VISION

A community where everyone can flourish with dignity.

OUR MISSION

Guided by Jewish values and in collaboration with the diverse communities we serve, JFCS East Bay contributes to the resilience of communities, families, and individuals through advocacy and comprehensive support services at every stage of life.

STRATEGIC PRIORITIES:

Building Infrastructure

JFCS East Bay must have a strong foundation of systems, programs, and processes to efficiently and effectively support the delivery of our services. It is critical that our people have the tools and resources to provide the highest quality of support to our clients.

Building Belonging

JFCS East Bay must build a culture of belonging for all clients, staff, leadership, and board members, as well as externally within the communities we serve.

Building Bridges

It is key that JFCS East Bay implement strategies to build bridges between our agency and other community organizations and partners. The development of these partnerships will help to contribute to system-level changes to better meet the diverse needs of our current clients and the wider East Bay community.

OUR VALUES

Our work is anchored by Jewish values, connecting us to our agency’s history and guiding our mission. These values are the foundation of how we work with each other, our clients, and our community:

• Repairing the World – תיקון עולם – Tikkun Olam 
  • Chief among our values is our responsibility to bring healing and justice to a world deeply in need of both.
• Welcoming the Stranger – ידעתם את-נפש הגר – Yadatem Et-Nefesh HaGer
  • Remembering always that we “were once strangers in the land of Egypt,” the Jewish people are commanded to welcome those in need and support them in realizing their dreams.
• Pursuing Justice – רודפי צדק – Rodfei Tzedek
  • We are responsible for being Rodfei Tzedek, “pursuers of justice,” addressing the sources and results of injustice in our community.
• Upholding the Dignity of Every Human Being  – כבוד הבריות – K’vod Habriyot 
  • The Torah affirms that each human being is created in the divine image; the young, the old, the vulnerable of every creed and color. Accordingly, every single individual deserves to be treated with the utmost respect and compassion.
• Being Responsible for One Another – כל ישראל ערבים זה לזה – Kol Yisrael Arevim Zeh LaZeh
  • The Jewish community is bound by a mutual responsibility to care for one another in body, mind, and spirit.

HOW WE OPERATE

We partner with our clients, staff, and community to advocate for justice and promote healing.

We engage in our work with integrity, accountability, and transparency.

We commit to anti-racism, diversity, equity, and inclusion.

We maintain an unwavering stance against antisemitism and all forms of prejudice.

HISTORY & LEGACY

JFCS East Bay was founded in 1877 as the Daughters of Israel Relief Society, with a focus on helping vulnerable women, children, and community members. Early on in our history, we developed expertise in resettling refugees in the East Bay: Jews coming from Eastern Europe in the late nineteenth century, earthquake survivors coming across the bay from San Francisco in 1906, Jews escaping Nazi Germany in the 1930s, Holocaust survivors after the war, and Jews fleeing anti-Semitism in the former Soviet Union during the 1970s, 80s, and 90s.

In the mid-1990s, the agency—by this time named Jewish Family Services of the Greater East Bay—became independent from the Jewish Federation of the East Bay and began expanding our services. We developed extensive programs for young children and their parents, precipitating another name change to Jewish Family & Children’s Services of the East Bay. We also expanded programs for older adults and their families and created specific programs for Holocaust survivors. As the wave of Russian Jewish emigration subsided, we began to apply our refugee resettlement expertise to others fleeing religious and ethnic persecution in Afghanistan, Iran, Bosnia, and elsewhere.

In 2015, we changed our name once again to fully embrace the depth and breadth of our diverse services supporting our multicultural community. As Jewish Family & Community Services East Bay, we are proud to serve and support Alameda and Contra Costa county residents of all ages, races, and religions.