A community leader partnering with people to achieve fulfilling lives.

Our JFS Blossom Bash is Back! Save the date, May 16th, 2024. Make an impact and become a Sponsor!

Rooted in Jewish values, Jewish Family Service of Western Massachusetts provides exceptional social services to support individuals and families from diverse cultural and economic backgrounds.

Our programs strengthen our community by strengthening the individual–from resettling refugee families, to supporting New Americans to become self-sufficient, counseling young adults through life’s transitions, equipping older adults to age well, protecting elders from abuse, leading caregiver support groups, and helping individuals enhance their Jewish connections.

Jewish Life

Enriching the quality of life for individuals in the Jewish community of Western Massachusetts.

Older Adults

Serving the unique needs of older adults, their families, and/or caregivers. 

Behavioral Health

Supporting individual and family resilience.

New Americans

Helping refugees resettle and thrive in our community.  

Citizenship & Immigration

Assisting immigrants and refugees to become US Citizens. 

Volunteer

Engaging community members, offering internships, and placement for AmeriCorps staff, to help our newest neighbors succeed.

Latest Updates

Welcome to Our New JFS Board Members

We are thrilled to announce five new members have joined the JFS Board of Directors! These individuals bring a wealth of expertise, leadership experience, passion, and dedication to our mission, and we are excited to have them on board.

The JFS Board recently voted to welcome the following Board Members:

  • Jonathan Goldman, Esq., Owner/Partner at Statera Law, LLC
  • Zaida Govan, MSW, LCSW, Private Practice Clinician
  • Dylann Jez, Co-Owner, Black Helicopter Creative
  • Alla Katsnelson, Independent Biomedical Journalist, Science Writer and Editor
  • Nancy Mirkin, Vice President, Polish National Credit Union

We look forward to working together to achieve our shared goals. To view the full list of our JFS Board members click here.

JFS ESL Leaners Visit the Dr. Suess Museum

JFS ESL learners enjoyed a guided field trip to the Dr. Suess Museum in Springfield as part of their English language learning and cultural experience. The museum served as an interactive learning space to explore resources and lessons beyond the traditional classroom setting. JFS Learning Coordinator and ESL teachers prepared handouts with questions related to the museum visit to encourage pair/group work, discussions, and dynamic learning. For many newcomers, these visits were their first to public spaces of this kind in the United States where they could relax and learn with their peers, and find a new welcoming space in the city. Thank you to our amazing and resourceful JFS staff for creating these wonderful learning opportunities to support our clients, and to the Dr. Suess Museum and staff for the opportunity to visit and for their hospitality.

Shelter State of Emergency - Community Asks:

We are reaching out to you, our Western MA community, with an emergency request related to the latest news that shelters are at capacity and families will be on waiting lists and truly unhoused until shelter space is available. Every small effort counts and your contribution can impact these families directly during an unprecedented housing challenge in the Commonwealth.

We are looking for help to support these families in five critical ways:

  1. Provide urgent and temporary shelter for 3-7 days
  2. Provide 2-3 weeks of shelter to one family
  3. Secure emergency food
  4. Coordinate clothing and essentials
  5. Purchase items on our Amazon wish list

To learn more about how you can help click here.

Donations Needed to Help Welcome New Refugees!

JFS is helping to welcome 75 refugees in the month of January, including 27 people from Afghanistan. In past years this was the number of people we welcomed in an entire year!

We urgently need your help with donations of in-kind items, purchases off of our WishList or donations. With this pace of arrivals we are running through our stock of donations quickly. While we do receive some money from the federal government to help these families get started, it is nowhere near enough to provide for everything that they need. For every item you donate or purchase for us, it means dollars saved that we can spend on rent or utilities for these families to get them on their feet.

If you’d like to volunteer with the resettlement team to help drive new arrivals to medical appointments, or help setup housing, or sort donations, we would warmly welcome your help! Sign up online and we will give you a call.

Specific priority in-kind donation items needed are gently used chairs, large pots and pans (for large families), blenders, blankets, brooms, rugs, and other supplies including paper towels and dish soap. If you can donate any of these items, please visit our website at https://www.jfswm.org/donate-goods/ and fill out our donate goods form, or you can drop items off at our office in Springfield during regular business hours.

Another way to help us replenish our supplies is by purchasing these urgently needed items from our WishList. We update the list weekly with our most needed items, and invite you to check there often to see how you can help. Click here for the link to our Amazon WISHLIST, and designate delivery to JFS, 15 Lenox Street, Springfield, MA 01108. Please fill out a gift receipt with your order so that we can thank you!

For more information, contact Nina Echols at n.echols@jfswm.org.

Volunteers Gather Supplies to Outfits Kitchens for Newly Arriving Refugees

An ambitious group of six volunteers, spearheaded by Sarah Fuller, joined together over a year ago, and took it upon themselves to collect pots and pans, flatware, and other kitchen necessities to outfit apartments for newly arriving refugees. The group attends tag sales, seeks out free give away items, and conducts weekly visits to local thrift shops to source the many items needed to create a functional kitchen. They then store the items in Ellen Tobiassen’s garage and meet to box up items to deliver to JFS. The group has become known at JFS as the “Kitchen Kit Crew,” and we’ve come to depend on their generous and timely donations. We are so grateful for their ingenious and enterprising efforts on behalf of JFS!

If you or someone you know is interested in VOLUNTEERING with JFS, we URGENTLY need help sorting donated items in our storage space at our Springfield office. We also need help setting up apartments for newly arriving New Americans. Click here to learn about our volunteer opportunities, and to fill out a volunteer application.

Upcoming Events

The Blossom Bash Is Back! Save-the-date!

We’re excited to announce our upcoming Blossom Bash event. We’ll be returning to the beautiful Quonquont Farm in Whately on Thursday, May 16th, 2024 for a special evening of good food. good times, all for good! Mark you calendars to celebrate and support our work at JFS. Click here for more information and to learn about Sponsorship Opportunities.

Building Resilience from Within: A 6-week self-care series for caregivers and anyone experiencing stress in their lives!

Join us Wednesdays, beginning April 10 to May 22 (no class Apr. 24), 11am to 11:45am on Zoom. Learn simple techniques to balance the nervous system and deepen a healthy connection to your body. The program is free and open to the public. No experience is required. Drop-ins welcome. Click here to learn more. Registration is required.

Jewish Family Jam with Felicia Sloin!

Calling all families with children ages 0-5! Come sing, move and jam with us. Jewish Family Jam is an enriching, joy filled, Jewish music and learning class for children ages 0-5 and their caregivers, held weekly 10:45-11:30am, Tuesdays at Lander Grinspoon Academy, Northampton, through June 4th, 2024. Registration is required. Cost: $35 registration fee. Click here to register. Questions? Contact Rosalind Torrey at r.torrey@jfswm.org.

Spread the Word—We Have Openings in Our Caregiver Support Groups

Are you caring for a parent, spouse or loved one? Join one of our Caregiver Support Groups to reduce caregiver isolation, receive support, explore relevant topics, discover resources, share coping strategies and learn from other caregivers. Currently all support groups are being held remotely. Groups are free of charge. Pre-registration is required. Click here for more information, or contact Cathy Chandler at c.chandler@jfswm.org.

How You Can Help

Help Welcome New Refugees

Everyday brings new Ukrainians and Haitians to JFS, in addition to our ongoing resettlement work welcoming refugees from other countries including Eritrea, Democratic Republic of Congo, Guatemala and Syria. While we aim to keep our storeroom supplies stocked, with the urgent influx of need, we are continually working to replenish our inventory.

  • Help us replenish our supplies by purchasing items from our WISHLIST. Please designate delivery to JFS, 15 Lenox Street, Springfield, MA 01108, and add a gift receipt so that we can thank you! If you have any questions, call (413) 737-2601.
  • Sign up to Volunteer! As we expand our programming, more support from the community is needed to help newly arriving refugee families! Click here to find a volunteer opportunity to fit your interests and schedule.

Volunteer

Volunteer support is crucial to our work and the long-term success and wellness of our community.

About Us

Rooted in Jewish values, we provide exceptional social services to support individuals and families from diverse cultural and economic backgrounds.

Donate

Your donation can change someone’s life and strengthen our community.