14 | JANUARY 6 • 2022 

OUR COMMUNITY

T

hanks to the generos-
ity of Detroit’s Jewish 
community and other 
funders, Jewish Family Service 
(JFS) has been able to expand 
its staff and volunteer corps 
over the past two years, recon-
figuring and adding services to 
help the community cope with 
the stresses of COVID. 
 The agency was able to 
pivot quickly to serving its 
counseling clients via Zoom, 
Facetime or video conferencing 
rather than in person. Insurers 
relaxed their requirements, 
making it easier for the agency 
to bill for remote services, said 
CEO Perry Ohren. 
 JFS provides mental health 
services (counseling), services 
to older adults and community 

safety net programs, such as 
one-time cash grants to cover 
emergencies. 
 Much of the recent expan-
sion was made possible by 
grants that added $2 million to 
the organization’s annual bud-
get, bringing it to $17 million. 
The infusion enabled JFS to 
increase its staff about 11 per-
cent to 125, which in turn has 
helped to reduce the amount 
of time community members 
have to wait for services. 
 The agency still has 14 open 
positions, said Wendy Uhrig, 
director of human resources, 
including a director of commu-
nity initiatives, social workers 
and program managers. 
 The COVID pandemic has 
taken a toll on all of us, Ohren 

said. “Everyone on the planet 
arguably has more anxiety and 
depression than in the past.” 
And those who were JFS clients 
before COVID hit “need a little 
more than they did before.” 
 JFS helps 15,000 people 
every year and provides ongo-
ing services for more than 
5,000. 
 Last year, JFS got a grant 
from a partnership between 
Oakland County and United 
Way that enabled them to 
increase the number of emer-
gency services recipients from 
750 to 900. 
 Grants from the Jewish 
Federation of Metropolitan 
Detroit helped JFS expand 
its counseling services to 
the Detroit area’s Jewish day 

schools; the school-based social 
work services staff increased 
from five to eight. 
 Marissa Preston joined JFS 
as an outpatient clinical psy-
chotherapist in March 2021. 
Providing services remotely 
was a big adjustment for her 
because she previously worked 
at a residential treatment facili-
ty for children. 
 She works primarily with 
children who are struggling 
with isolation. “I think we 
can agree that COVID-19 has 
impacted almost everyone’s 
mental health,” she said. 
 JFS staff were also concerned 
about social isolation among 
older adults during the pan-
demic. Most of JFS’s approxi-
mately 1,000 senior clients live 

Funders enable Jewish Family Service to grow despite COVID.

BARBARA LEWIS CONTRIBUTING WRITER
HELP WANTED 

JFS is using 
Uniper Care to 
keep connected 
with seniors.

UNIPER CARE (UNIPER)