Message from the CEO Marc D

from Winter 2021 - 2022 Transformations

State Grant Boosts Mental Health First

A Message from the CEO

Dear Community Members,

I have learned a lot since the pandemic started two years ago. I learned about a city in China called Wuhan, home to about 11 million people. I learned new words and phrases like COVID-19, KN95 mask, mRNA vaccines, social distancing, contact tracing, and PPE.

But the most important lesson I learned is how quickly life as we know it can change, increasing the need for human services in our community. For example, seniors, including Holocaust survivors, who are already isolated became even more so. Seniors earning extra income lost these jobs when their customers started working from home or lost their own jobs. Families with two incomes lost one or both. As children attended school online from home, parents became even more involved in their child’ s education, while balancing work and other family obligations.

All of the above and more caused our Chai Line phones to ring. Many calls were from people who (thankfully) never had a reason to call us before. Prior to the pandemic, they had a steady income, sufficient savings to survive for a few weeks, a credit card to help finance some purchases, and their kids were doing well. By the time they called us they lost all of their financial footing while their kids struggled with isolation.

This brings me to the most important lesson the pandemic taught me—no human services challenge is too big for the employees of Alpert Jewish Family Service. We quickly learned how to work remotely. We armed our social workers, licensed professionals, and support staff with technology they needed to continue to fully operate our Behavioral Health, Long Term Care, and Chai Line services. We acquired the necessary PPE for our Residential direct care staff so they could continue safely caring for the residents. We put protocols in place to keep our staff and clients safe, and adjusted as the pandemic evolved, and as vaccines and therapeutics became available.

All of what we do is only possible because of the generosity of our supporters. Whether your philanthropy comes directly to us or indirectly through your gift to the Jewish Federation, it all goes straight to the work our agency does to help thousands of people during these challenging times.

Thank you for all that you have done and continue to do. Remember to take care of yourself and stay apprised of the latest news about the virus. We are here for you, your family, and your friends when you need us.

Respectfully,