Jewish Center Welcomes All Faiths

The sign on the door at Jewish Family Service reads “Shalom,” a Hebrew word that means peace, hello and goodbye.

With such a welcome, it’s no wonder the local charity group serves scores of Ventura County residents in need.

But despite its distinct Jewish grounding, the community center provides counseling, legal advice and a multitude of other services for Ventura County residents of all faiths.

“It really is very rewarding work, sometimes frustrating, but mostly rewarding when you’re really helping somebody,” said Susan Hardy, executive director for the center.

The nonprofit group is new to its offices on East Main Street but has been fully operational for 12 years in space behind Temple Beth Torah, where it still maintains offices.

More visibility has “made a huge difference,” Hardy said. “People can get to us.”

Clientele has increased significantly in the two months since the center moved onto Main Street. Adjusting to the growing pains, Hardy quickly recruited six more therapists, nearly doubling the counseling staff.

But even before the group moved to a more noticeable locale, it served more than 1,000 people last year. Only about a third were Jewish, Hardy said.

Support groups and individual counseling are available for all ages on a wide variety of topics. A sliding scale makes the services affordable, and anyone who can’t afford counseling can earn it by volunteering for a local charity. Six hours of volunteer work earns a free hour of counseling.

The volunteer work almost serves as a form of therapy, Hardy said. “We force them out into a social situation and wonderful things happen.”

A special peer-counseling program matches seniors with seniors. It is the only program of its kind in the county in which counselors visit distressed seniors in their homes to discuss how the client can be helped.

A monthly lunch called “Prime Timers” is another senior service.

The center provides more than emotional support. Free legal advice is available Monday nights, provided by a team of local attorneys who counsel on anything from divorce to personal finance law.

Martin Rosenberg began volunteering his legal services after he saw a flier asking for help. The opportunity came at a time when Rosenberg wanted to get more involved with his community.

In the year and a half that he’s been giving legal advice, Rosenberg said he has gotten back in personal rewards more than he has given.

“They’re incredibly grateful, and to see the enthusiasm is also a very pleasant part of it that you don’t get in the typical day-to-day,” he said.

It’s tough to stump the team of five attorneys who volunteer almost every week.

“Very often their questions are so basic and their problems are so significant and can be so easily solved,” Rosenberg said.

The center also helps Russians moving into the area. Jewish Family Service provides the necessary paperwork and volunteers help the family become proficient in English, find jobs, learn to drive and master other skills needed to assimilate.

Jewish Family Service is not unlike other groups that are based on a religion but work to help all members of the community. They include Catholic Charities and Project Understanding.

Locally, Catholic Charities offers in-home elderly care, low-cost after-school care, counseling and a variety of services for the poor, including rent assistance.

Project Understanding is a network of more than 25 local Christian and Jewish congregations. It offers tutoring, transitional living and food services. The group also maintains a drop-in center where the homeless can shower, shave and receive mail and messages.

With relatively small budgets, these local groups must rely on volunteers to support the bulk of their outreach efforts. Jewish Family Service employs only one full-time staff member, who works as an administrative assistant. Even Hardy is part time. But a brigade of more than 65 volunteers helps keep the center running at full speed.

“We have an incredible staff of volunteers,” Hardy said.

About 25% of their budget comes from the United Jewish Appeal/Federation, with the rest of the annual $120,000 budget pieced together through personal donations and fund-raisers. They depend on selling supermarket scrip, donations of old cars and several other revenue generators throughout the year.

“There are people that just believe in what we are doing,” Hardy said.