About JFS

PROVIDING A LIFELINE TO PEOPLE IN NEED

Since 1911, JFS has been providing services to the greater St. Paul area, responding to the needs of both the Jewish community and the community at large. To learn more about the comprehensive services offered, please click on the corresponding links below.

About Jewish Family Service of St. Paul

In the spring of 1911, six prominent Jewish businessmen met to draft a Document of Incorporation for The Jewish Charities of St. Paul, Minnesota. The organization was created to provide charity to impoverished Jewish refugees fleeing Eastern Europe.

Today, Jewish Family Service of St. Paul (JFS) is a 501(c)3 nonprofit organization that provides programs and services that help people from all walks of life meet the planned and unplanned changes in their lives.

 

 

Our Mission

Inspired by Jewish values, we help people from all backgrounds build on their strengths and meet life’s challenges.

 

Our Values

Jewish values are the foundation of our work at JFS. We are always guided by chesed (kindness), tzedakah (justice), and tikkun olam (repairing the world).

 

Our Vision

People thrive with the support of our connections, resources and services.

 

Our Equity Statement

JFS serves all people regardless of race, ethnicity, creed, religion, national origin, gender, disability or sexual orientation. As an organization founded in 1911 to provide support to impoverished Jewish refugees fleeing Eastern Europe, our approaches are rooted in our values, beliefs and experiences related to navigating important life changes. We recognize that many of our clients and their loved ones, whose demographics are varied, have suffered from systemic disparities based on cultural and other differences, including race, disability, gender and sexual orientation. We pledge to see, hear and identify changes we can make in our everyday actions and through change in our policies, practices and situations so that we are not adding to that damage. Whenever we can, consistent with our value of tzedekah (justice), we will also do our best to remedy these harms.

JFS serves nearly 3,800 people each year. Our client demographics speak to our ability to reach and help all people, Caucasian, African-American, Somali, Jewish, Christian and Muslim.