Jewish Family & Child Service - Portland, Oregon

July is Bebe Moore Campbell National Minority Mental Health Awareness Month. This month, join us in honoring the memory of Bebe Moore Campbell, an American author, journalist, teacher, and mental health advocate who worked to shed light on the mental health needs of the Black community and other underrepresented communities. JFCS encourages you to learn more, receive support, and/or get involved.

Learn more about BIPOC mental health at mhanational.org/july.

We’d like to introduce you to JFCS Connection, our new digital hub for all things JFCS! For those subscribed to our email list, we are transitioning from our quarterly print newsletter to a digital format, for more frequent, timely updates, keeping you closer to the community.

In our inaugural edition, we delve into the topic of collective trauma with insights from our Clinical Director, Douglass Ruth, LCSW. His expertise and thoughtful guidance provides us all with a deeper understanding of the challenges we face and how we can navigate them together.

Read it here: https://conta.cc/4cNQZ62.

And if you’re not yet subscribed to our email list, fill in the “Stay in Touch” form on our website homepage and stay connected to JFCS! https://www.jfcs-portland.org/

July is Disability Pride Month, created to end stigmas, raise awareness, and encourage others to be accepting of the diversity of people with disabilities. In anticipation of , disability organizations and advocates have launched the Stop Special campaign. This initiative calls for an end to using the word “special” to describe people with disabilities. Feedback from the disability community highlights that the term “special” is often seen as condescending and offensive. It sets people with disabilities apart, implying they are somehow broken or deficient. Visit https://stopspecial.org to learn more.

The disabilities community is vast and diverse--its diversity enriches everyone. At JFCS, we acknowledge and support all people, whether you have -- or love someone with -- a visible, invisible, dynamic, new, or lifelong disability. May you take some time especially this month to celebrate, embrace and educate yourself and those in your community.

JFCS would like to welcome Rabbi Sarah Rensin, Portland's new Community Chaplin, to the team. Click the link to read more about her and ways to reach her: https://www.jfcs-portland.org/staff/rabbi-sarah-rensin/

Congrats to all the Song of Miriam honorees, including our very own, and very impressive, Sheryl Martel. Read the article to learn more about the award and the amazing women who earned it.

Song of Miriam brunch honors 18 volunteers - Jewish Women's Round Table

The 29th Annual Song of Miriam Awards Brunch honoring women volunteers was held on Sunday, June 9th, at Mittleman Jewish Community Center.

The event, put on by the Jewish Women’s Round Table, honored 18 women who volunteer for Jewish and community organizations. More than 260 people attended the brunch.

Marki Maizels, JWRT President and Toby Blake, a past honoree and JWRT member, presented the awards.

To read the full article that has the full list of the 18 honored volunteers - please visit:
https://jewishportland.org/jewishreview/jr-stories/song-of-miriam-brunch-honors-18-volunteers

Join us this Friday, July 12th at 10am on Zoom for Community Connection. It is a space for anyone in the community to connect with others and share what’s on your mind. We're here to help you foster new connections--we look forward to seeing you.

Zoom meeting ID: 928 7447 9617
Passcode: 796857

Next week's Community Connection session is specifically for members of the Next Generation Group, and registration is required. After that, the next CC is not until August 9th. Visit the calendar of future meetings listed on the JFCS counseling page.

Stay safe an informed about cooling centers during this heatwave.

NEWS RELEASE: Three Multnomah County daytime cooling centers reopen noon to 10 p.m. today, Tuesday, June 9 Cooling centers are not planned to reopen Wednesday, July 10, with dangerous heat expected to peak today before subsiding this evening into tomorrow morning.

JFCS congratulates all members of the hard-working class of 2024! We wish you the best of luck with your next endeavor, goal, chapter.

A few spots left, sign up now!

THIS SUNDAY! REGISTER TODAY!

The Mitzvah Project - a new, exciting quarterly community opportunity providing volunteer days of hands-on service throughout Portland!

Join us for our inaugural NEXTGEN MITZVAH PROJECT event on June 23 from 12-3 PM

For Young Adults 21+ | Snacks and lunch provided

Register Here:
https://jewishportland.org/themitzvahproject

Spend a day outside helping the environment through a Jewish Lens. We will work with Friends of Tryon Creek and Tryon Creek Park Rangers assisting with the park's specific needs.

Come prepared to participate in activities that may include planting, trail maintenance, and other environmental needs of Tryon Creek.

For information on additional Jewish Federation of Greater Portland NextGen and Young Families’ programs, events, and opportunities please contact Laura Jeser at [email protected].

JFCS deeply appreciates the Women's Giving Circle (WGC) of the Jewish Federation of Greater Portland for their generous grants. These funds have enabled our counseling team to serve our community in vital ways: from offering in-school mental health counseling for K-12 students, to funding grief support for those facing loss. The support from WGC has truly made a meaningful impact, touching countless lives across the Portland metro area. Thank you for your generosity!

World Refugee Day is an international day designated by the United Nations to honor refugees around the globe. This year, World Refugee Day focuses on solidarity with refugees. Solidarity means keeping our doors open, celebrating their strengths and achievements, and reflecting on the challenges they face. Many refugees fleeing their homes seek relief in Portland, where they desire to start building a new life.

Refugee Care Collective has great resources to help Portlanders get involved, to help our newest neighbors, such as by preparing Restart Kits. For more information, please click the link: https://refugeecarecollective.org/get-involved/

Juneteenth -- officially called Juneteenth National Independence Day -- also is known as Jubilee Day, Emancipation Day, Freedom Day, and Black Independence Day. It commemorates emancipation of enslaved African Americans and, more broadly, is a day dedicated to celebrating Black culture in America. To learn more about Juneteenth, visit https://nmaahc.si.edu/juneteenth

Your caring heart and generosity play a significant role on JFCS’ team as we provide mental-health counseling and support for children through older adults; social gatherings for Holocaust Survivors; educational opportunities for the entire community; and Jewish holiday programming. Thank you for considering a gift to JFCS. Click the link to our donation page: https://interland3.donorperfect.net/weblink/weblink.aspx?name=E55865&id=6

May you all have a beautiful Shabbat and start to Father’s Day Weekend. Father's Day is a great day to remember and cherish the dad -- or all father figures -- in your life. For June 16, Happy Father's Day!

In honor of Holocaust Survivor Day, JFCS put on a delicious picnic for nearly 80 people, including 50 Survivors and their families, who spent an afternoon together at Cook Park in Tigard. Under a warm, early June sun, Survivor clients thrived in community, enjoying a kosher lunch, live klezmer music, and pictures to take home as a memento of a special day. JFCS is grateful to the many volunteers who assisted throughout the event and sincerely thanks Seed the Dream Foundation, Kavod Shef, and the Conference on Jewish Material Claims Against Germany for helping to fund the lively afternoon.

Join us this Friday, June 14th at 10am on Zoom for Community Connection. It is a space for anyone in the community to connect with others and share what’s on your mind. We're here to help you foster new connections--we look forward to seeing you.

Zoom meeting ID: 928 7447 9617
Passcode: 796857

Next week's Community Connection session is specifically for members of the Next Generation Group, and registration is required. After that, the next CC is not until July 12th. Visit the calendar of future meetings listed on the JFCS counseling page.

Shavuot represents many important milestones on the Jewish liturgical and agricultural calendars: It marks the 50th day since the start of Passover; it is one of Judaism's three harvest festivals; it celebrates the giving of the 10 Commandments at Mt. Sinai; it often is celebrated with all-night study and eating an abundance of dairy-based desserts like cheesecake. JFCS wishes all who celebrate this late-spring holiday a happy Shavuot, or Chag Sameach Shavuot!

Congratulations to Sheryl Martel, JFCS’ 2024 Song of Miriam award recipient. And thank you to the Jewish Women's Round Table, organizers of the Song of Miriam Awards Brunch, whose mission is to bring together the Jewish community to recognize outstanding, dedicated women volunteers for their vital role in Jewish life.

We are excited to honor Sheryl, a longtime volunteer who perfectly embodies the spirit of the JWRT and JFCS' volunteer program. With her hands-on, compassionate work with Holocaust Survivors, Sheryl always raises her hand to help out, and improves every project she touches. Thank you, Sheryl!

The Anti-Defamation League’s (ADL) Pacific Northwest Office is providing an important conversation on Understanding and Confronting Antisemitism Today on Mon., June 24, at Congregation Neveh Shalom at 7:00 p.m. Guest speaker Vlad Khaykin, who is ADL’s national director of Programs on Antisemitism, will be in conversation with Ken Boddie of KOIN This Morning on the current climate on antisemitism and hate, recent trends, and effective strategies to address prejudice and build safer and inclusive communities. Please register today: https://support.adl.org/event/understanding-and-confronting-antisemitism-today/e590455

June is Pride Month, set for this month to honor the 1969 Stonewall Uprising in Manhattan that launched the movements for equal rights for all le***an, gay, bisexual, transgender, q***r and nonbinary people. JFCS believes love is love, and we stand with all members of the community who identify as LGBTQ+. Looking for a way to celebrate and support Pride? A list of events all month long can be found at this link https://portlandpride.org/

Join JFCS for our next Grief Connection, a monthly drop-in group for grief support and processing, on June 7. This month’s topic will focus on the mental and emotional toll that grief can have on us. For more information, contact Missy Fry, LCSW, CAGCS at [email protected].

Please note, that due to the July 4th holiday, next month's session will be canceled.

Visit the counseling calendar link for future groups: https://www.jfcs-portland.org/services/counseling/

Oregon Jewish Community FoundationJFCS thanks the Oregon Jewish Community Foundation for its Community Enrichment Fund grant! JFCS now has the opportunity to reach further into the greater Portland community to alert ever more Portlanders to our culturally sensitive mental-health services that always are delivered through a person-centered, trauma-informed lens. Thank you, OJCF!

Jews of Color (JoC) are an increasing demographic with the Jewish community generally, including in Portland. American Jews since Oct. 7, 2023, have felt a profound shift in experience, and we are not a monolith. A pulse survey now is available to hear from JoC about the ongoing war sparked by Hamas. This survey is part of a research project commissioned by the Jews of Color Initiative (JoCI), a nonprofit organization founded in response to U.S.-based racism in and outside of the Jewish community

Please take our pulse survey now to share your perspectives and experiences as a US-based Jew of Color in this challenging moment. This survey will help us center, learn about, and amplify JoC perspectives in the communal conversation on how US Jewish communal life has been impacted since October 7th. https://ow.ly/IOk750RRGVr

Thank you, Jenna Hasson, Michelle Gradow, Elana Stampfer Emlen and Carolyn Weinstein, for helping us put on "A Night of Hope, a Night with Heart"! You raised your hands to put in time and expertise for the agency's annual fundraising event, and we are so grateful to you for your commitment!

JFCS is hosting a picnic in the park for Holocaust Survivor clients on June 6. This is a favorite of theirs; volunteers say the same! Help Holocaust Survivors enjoy a fun day in the outdoors with their friends and families by offering to drive them to and from the event. Volunteers are invited to stay and participate for the afternoon of food, live music and fun.

Visit the volunteer platform for additional details and to sign up: https://jfcsportland.galaxydigital.com/need/detail/?need_id=939280

Holocaust Survivor Day, June 4, 2024, is a day to celebrate Survivors' "Bravery, Sacrifices, and Lives" across the globe and here at home. The founding organization writes, "We believe that Holocaust Survivors are our teachers, but the responsibility of passing on the legacy of their testimonies lies with all of us." We raise awareness of and about Survivors, their lives and the legacies they've spent a life creating. For more information, please click the link: https://www.holocaustsurvivorday.com/

Check out our new addition to the JFCS Community Resources page! The Jewish Association for Death Education (JADE) is a Jewish end-of-life nonprofit organization that provides education, guidance and support to people in the Jewish community. Rachel Crawford is JADE's Portland-based Jewish death educator. Rachel's role is to act as a facilitator and connector between Portland's Jewish community and its local Jewish end-of life-networks and organizations to raise awareness around Jewish end-of-life practices.

To start learning more about Jewish end-of-life practices, check out JADE's online learning tool: www.hineni.jadeinfo.org

Memorial Day is dedicated to U.S. military personnel who have died while serving in the United States armed forces. To honor the day and our fallen, many people place flags at the burial places of loved ones or simply visit cemeteries to honor those who fought and died for their country, even if unknown to you. It is a national holiday; JFCS wishes you a good day of rest.

Shabbat shalom, JFCS community! Also this weekend is Lag B'Omer, the 33rd day of Omer, the period between Passover and Shavuot, a harvest festival. Omer serves as a time of both reflection and mourning, but today is a day of joy. For that reason, there are frequently weddings, other celebrations and -- in a nod to Jewish mysticism -- bonfires. May you have a fun holiday, and a meaningful season.

JFCS is so grateful to its in-kind donors who provided their professional services, beautiful blooms and wonderful wines to help offset costs for "A Night of Hope, a Night with Heart." Our annual fundraising event was a terrific success, in part thanks to our generous in-kind donors Morel Ink, Zupan's Market, Sleight of Hand Cellars and Raptor Ridge Winery. Thank you!