JFS Biennial Meeting: New leadership, awards, and farewells

Kelly Burroughs

This year marks 75 years of commitment by Jewish Family Service to serve the community. For more than three quarters of a century, thousands of people have received help from the family services agency. Part of the agency’s success is the legacy of its board of directors, generous donors, committed staff, community partnerships, and countless hours of work performed by community volunteers.

Awards and distinctions

On June 30, JFS held its 66th biennial meeting to install a new board president and celebrate the agency’s accomplishments with many recognitions.

Anne Kramer, board president, opened the meeting by inviting Rabbi Michael Panitz of Temple Israel to offer the invocation. A long-standing supporter of JFS, Temple Israel’s members provide food drives throughout the year for the agency’s food pantries, often helping to restock the empty shelves.

JFS also receives support from young people. Three outstanding teens – Molly Mancoll, Anna Sherman, and Ari Simon – who chose the JFS Food Pantry for their b’nai mitzvah projects of collecting nonperishable foods and hygiene products to fill the JFS Food Pantry shelves, were recognized. “We are so thankful for the generosity of these young people and the support provided them by their parents get all year, and they really look forward to an outing,” said Salomonsky. supervised. and the community,” said Debbie Mayer, JFS clinical director.

The Distinguished Service Award was given to Dr. Barbara Parks in appreciation of her years of support to JFS and her service to the community. As a member of both the Home Care Services committee and the PAM program advisory board, Parks has helped shape the structure of medical care for the agency’s clients.

Aikman began working at JFS in 1999, and immediately started learning about adult guardianship. “Many of the people here today owe their jobs to all of the policies and procedures that Marlene developed and taught,” said Salomonsky.

Clements joined the PAM department in 2000, having just received his counselor license. “Lloyd has been the backbone of our PAM Program for the last 23 years. He is a recognized expert in the field of guardianship and his dedication to JFS and our clients is unparalleled,” said Salomonsky.

Altmeyer Funeral Home was recognized with the Community Partner Award for their years of dedicated commitment to JFS and the community. Dorothy Salomonsky, PAM program director, spoke of the importance of the relationship JFS has with Altmeyer and its employees.

“Whether our client in their care was homeless or a millionaire, they treat every person and their family members with dignity and respect.” Not only does Altmeyer provide after life services for JFS clients, but they also host a holiday party every year in which 100 or more clients are treated to a holiday lunch.

“This is sometimes the only restaurant meal that our clients

“Dr. Parks is always available when JFS calls and provides advice, guidance, direction, and involvement when it is most critical. Our clients come to us suffering from the most extreme medical conditions, often with very contentious family situations. We are called upon to make life and death decisions for strangers we just met. She gives thoughtful insight and treats each one of our clients as she would her own patients,” said Salomonsky.

JFS also recognized several long-standing employees: Marlene Aikman, Lloyd Clements, Robert Lang, and Alla Gean. All have worked at JFS for decades, giving their time and service in dramatically impactful ways. Encompassing Tikkun Olam, they have left this community better than they found it, serving as mentors to those they

Lang has been JFS’s trusts and assets manager since 2004, after retiring from his job at UPS. Salomonsky said, “When our finance department needed a trusts and assets manager, we knew that Bob would be the person to build that department. His knowledge as an attorney has been invaluable to our program as he has intervened and advocated for our clients.”

Gean is the senior acculturation case manager for the older adult services department. She joined JFS in January 2001 as a part time case work assistant in the Soviet Jewish Resettlement program, a job that quickly became full time. As the case manager for elderly New Americans and