November is National Hospice Awareness Month. Jewish Social Service Agency, located in Rockville, MD, is one of the few Jewish organizations that manage their own hospice. For nearly 30 years, JSSA's hospice has offered a wide range of quality medical and support services, from symptom and pain management to emotional and spiritual guidance for patients and their families. JSSA's Hospice is where the community turns for exceptional end-of-life care that supports dignity and comfort for individuals and provides peace of mind to families and honoJSSA logors cultural traditions and customs.
The Jewish Federation of Greater Washington featured JSSA's Hospice in their November 4th newsletter, which included this excerpt from a letter sent to JSSA from a patient's loved one. "I am writing to thank you for the superb care and support that you and the entire JSSA team provided to [my loved one], the family and me throughout the hospice experience. Your responsiveness, resourcefulness and attention to detail were remarkable. Most important, however, was your focus on [the patient] as a whole person and the depth of authentic caring you gave to us all. I know it made a tremendous difference to [our loved one] on the final leg of the journey in life. I truly cannot thank you enough."
The Jewish Federation of Greater Washington featured JSSA's Hospice in their November 4th newsletter, which included this excerpt from a letter sent to JSSA from a patient's loved one. "I am writing to thank you for the superb care and support that you and the entire JSSA team provided to [my loved one], the family and me throughout the hospice experience. Your responsiveness, resourcefulness and attention to detail were remarkable. Most important, however, was your focus on [the patient] as a whole person and the depth of authentic caring you gave to us all. I know it made a tremendous difference to [our loved one] on the final leg of the journey in life. I truly cannot thank you enough."
Jewish Family Services of Delaware released REEL Talk, a short film about a day in the life of Delaware Governor Jack Markereel on September 14th at the World Café Live at the Queens Theatre in downtown Wilmington. The film was directed by Brahmin Jackson, a JFS Delaware employee and former JFS client. Students participating in the JFS Media Matters program produced the film. The event received rave reviews and was written up in The News Journal. AP picked the story up as well, publishing it in the Houston Chronicle and the San Antonio newspapers.
Gulf Coast Jewish Family Services will highlight its first-ever FACES Project — featuring stories and vignettes of clients indicative of the agency’s scope.
The FACES Project includes a photography exhibit and a commemorative book featuring over 60 photos and vignettes of the clients served statewide, regardless of religion, race or background, by the 32-year-old social service agency.
Barbara Sterensis, GCJFS Board Chair, created the FACES project because “the way to tell the story of our agency is to see the faces of the people we serve.”
After several years of planning and pitching the idea, Sterensis and long-time agency supporter and amateur photographer Sonia Raymund traveled to over 15 communities around Florida meeting the clients and taking over 2,000 photographs from March to July of this year.
In the foreword of the FACES book, Raymund says “… am glad I took on the challenge since I had a chance to see for myself how JFS makes a difference in so many lives. I was also surprised by the great number of clients who benefit from this organization that are not Jewish. Many people are under the false impression that only Jews can get help from JFS; hopefully, FACES will make it clear that the only requirement to ask for help is need. …”
The clients featured in the FACES book come from all of the program “buckets” in the agency; Children and Family, Elderly and Disabled, Employment, Jewish Community, Mental Health and Refugee Services.
The book includes over 60 photographs selected from those taken by Raymund. Accompanying the photographs are 20 feature stories about the subjects, all of whom are served by one of the more than 50 GCJFS programs currently offered in Pinellas, Pasco and Hillsborough Counties and 28 other counties around Florida. Among those are some Jewish Pinellas and Pasco clients served through the agency’s Jewish Family Services “bucket” — a beneficiary of the Jewish Federation of Pinellas & Pasco Counties.
The vignettes about the clients capture the challenges and triumphs they have faced and how GCJFS gave each one a brighter future. The Zachary Earl Johnson, a Florida State University junior majoring in Writing and Publishing who was interning at GCJFS, composed the stories.
The FACES Project includes a photography exhibit and a commemorative book featuring over 60 photos and vignettes of the clients served statewide, regardless of religion, race or background, by the 32-year-old social service agency.
Barbara Sterensis, GCJFS Board Chair, created the FACES project because “the way to tell the story of our agency is to see the faces of the people we serve.”
After several years of planning and pitching the idea, Sterensis and long-time agency supporter and amateur photographer Sonia Raymund traveled to over 15 communities around Florida meeting the clients and taking over 2,000 photographs from March to July of this year.
In the foreword of the FACES book, Raymund says “… am glad I took on the challenge since I had a chance to see for myself how JFS makes a difference in so many lives. I was also surprised by the great number of clients who benefit from this organization that are not Jewish. Many people are under the false impression that only Jews can get help from JFS; hopefully, FACES will make it clear that the only requirement to ask for help is need. …”
The clients featured in the FACES book come from all of the program “buckets” in the agency; Children and Family, Elderly and Disabled, Employment, Jewish Community, Mental Health and Refugee Services.
The book includes over 60 photographs selected from those taken by Raymund. Accompanying the photographs are 20 feature stories about the subjects, all of whom are served by one of the more than 50 GCJFS programs currently offered in Pinellas, Pasco and Hillsborough Counties and 28 other counties around Florida. Among those are some Jewish Pinellas and Pasco clients served through the agency’s Jewish Family Services “bucket” — a beneficiary of the Jewish Federation of Pinellas & Pasco Counties.
The vignettes about the clients capture the challenges and triumphs they have faced and how GCJFS gave each one a brighter future. The Zachary Earl Johnson, a Florida State University junior majoring in Writing and Publishing who was interning at GCJFS, composed the stories.
Untitled from Megan Myers on Vimeo.
