ESSEX COUNTY, NJ — Jewish Family Service of MetroWest NJ announced it will receive a grant from the Jewish Federations of North America’s Center for Advancing Holocaust Survivor Care. When combined with matching funds, this award will enable $99,330.67 in new programming for survivors. In addition, all JFS clinical staff will receive intensive training on person-centered, trauma-informed care. Matching funds for this grant will be provided by Jewish Federation of Greater MetroWest.
JFS will support children of Holocaust survivors, the “Second Generation,” in order to improve the care they give to their loved ones. Programming will include a monthly caregiver support group, mental health counseling, a caregiver helpline, and quarterly seminars educating family caregivers on how the trauma of the Holocaust impacts how survivors experience and relate to the world. The goals of this program are to reduce self-reported feelings of caregiver stress and improve self-care, and to increase caregivers’ understanding and awareness of the multitude of issues that directly result from the Holocaust.
“Jewish Family Service of MetroWest NJ is honored to be selected by JFNA to bring these innovative services to the community. Providing support to the ‘Second Generation’ allows us to care for the caregivers, who will in turn be better equipped to care for and understand the unique needs of our survivors,” JFS MetroWest CEO Diane Squadron said.
“Anti-Semitism has shaken our community and Holocaust survivors are deeply affected,” said Mark Wilf, chairman of JFNA’s board of trustees and past chairman of JFNA’s National Holocaust Survivor Initiative. “We are grateful for the federal government’s commitment to help survivors and ensure that this vulnerable group has additional support.”
Of the estimated 80,000 Holocaust survivors in the United States, approximately one in three live in poverty. Many live alone and are at risk for social isolation, depression, and other physical and mental health conditions stemming from periods of starvation, disease and torture.
This grant is part of JFNA’s partnership with the federal government to improve lives for Holocaust survivors, and comes as the world observes the 75th anniversary of the liberation of the Auschwitz concentration camp. This year, JFNA received $5 million from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Administration for Community Living.
For more information, call 973-765-9050 or visit www.jfsmetrowest.org.
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