When on March 15, 2020, Massachusetts State Governor Charlie Baker announced the imposition of emergency Covid-19 response measures, JFS of Metrowest, like many other local non-profit agencies, developed and operationalized new intervention paradigms to ensure that the area’s most vulnerable would have access to essential goods and services throughout the crisis period. We could not have imagined then that the pandemic response period would extend through the Spring and Summer, now coming upon Autumn – with no clear end in sight.
During this crisis time, JFS has opened and staffed food distribution sites for families without food security; has delivered prepared meals (especially culturally appropriate meals for clients celebrating Passover and Rosh Hashanah), groceries and toiletries to high-risk, home bound elderly adults; has distributed educational materials to at-risk children to mitigate learning loss; has performed wellness checks on hundreds of isolated older adults; has provided rental assistance to low-income new Americans; has facilitated emergency medical services for those fallen ill; has provided essential personal care and homemaking services for those unable to care for themselves; has helped pay for needed child daycare services; has assisted the unemployed to file for benefits; has provided supportive counseling to anxious, depressed and grief stricken individuals; has coordinated funeral and burial services and has helped with related expenses, etc.
The truth is that JFS would not have been capable of providing more than a fraction of the goods and a shadow of the services offered during this crisis period without our dedicated staff and volunteers who have placed themselves at risk to serve those in need, our invaluable community partners – Daniel’s Table, the Framingham Public Schools, City of Framingham’s Mayor’s Office, Framingham Public Health Department, Framingham Rotary, Framingham Housing Authority, 2Life Communities Shillman House, Dignity Matters, Hope and Comfort, Learning Express, Metrowest Mask Project, Metrowest Synagogues and other faith organizations, and so many others – and the very generous private donors and charitable foundations that have supported our efforts, quietly and without fanfare.
Supporting foundations include:
- Combined Jewish Philanthropies (CJP)
- The Shapiro Foundation
- Foundation for Metrowest
- The Herb and Maxine Jacobs Foundation
- The Boston Foundation
- Cummings Foundation
- Metrowest Health Foundation
- Massachusetts Covid-19 Relief Fund
- Tufts Health Plan Foundation
- Eastern Bank
- Middlesex Savings Bank
- Myers Family Fund
- Sudbury Foundation
- Wolk Family Endowment for Individuals and Families in Distress
- Community Foundation of Greenville
- Fish Family
- Stop & Shop and others.