HOLOCAUST SURVIVOR SERVICES & ADVOCACY

Sponsored in loving memory of Donald Love and Susan Love

This monthly program provides support for Holocaust Survivors through luncheons, social outings, and cultural activities that offer opportunities to connect with other Survivors and their family members. Gatherings also involve intergenerational events, during which local middle school and high school students interact with the Survivors and learn more about their stories. Please note that at this time, Café Europa is being offered virtually.

This innovative workshop series offers trauma-informed therapeutic groups for South Jersey’s most isolated Holocaust Survivors in Vineland, New Jersey. Hope and Healing promotes participants’ dignity, strength, and empowerment by fostering an atmosphere of trust to express feelings and emotions; providing skills for coping with anxiety and stress; reducing feelings of isolation and loneliness; and empowering them to make choices by focusing on their abilities rather than their inabilities. Hope and Healing Vineland programs are funded in part by the Jewish Federation of Cumberland, Gloucester & Salem Counties.

Many Holocaust Survivors from the Former Soviet Union (FSU) consider themselves to be a distinct group. These individuals tend to be drawn to one another because of their shared language and cultural experiences. In an ongoing effort to further meet the needs of local FSU clients, JFCS launched its Russian-language Hope and Healing workshops in August 2020. These engaging programs explore a wide variety of topics, including Israeli current events, visual art, culinary arts, poetry, travel, and biblical history, as well as live performances of instrumental music and Yiddish songs. FSU clients also receive a quarterly Russian-language newsletter, which provides them with crucial programmatic updates and engaging educational material. 

JFCS has a longstanding commitment to care for the Holocaust Survivors in our community. Together with grants from the Conference on Jewish Material Claims Against Germany, The New Jersey State Holocaust Survivor Assistance Program, and private donors, we provide assistance with restitution applications, social work and nursing case management, homemaker and personal care services, Kosher Catered Home Delivered Meals, transportation, and mental health counseling. For an updated list of eligibility programs for Holocaust Survivors, click HERE.