Dr. Jane Sosland, Priya board president, is a strong advocate and dedicated volunteer for the Jewish Family Services’ program. Priya, a program of JFS, offers Jewish individuals and couples, including LGBTQ+ and interfaith families, emotional support, resource connection, spiritual guidance and financial assistance with genetic testing, fertility treatments and adoption.
Sosland’s extensive involvement with Priya comes from a very personal place stemming from when she and her husband, Josh, confronted infertility issues many years ago.
“We kept it very private, and we got no help because of it. It was something you didn’t talk about,” Sosland said. “I could have used more emotional support like what Priya provides now.”
Today, the Soslands are the parents of three grown children, twin sons, Max and Sam, and a daughter, Leah. As Sosland learned about Priya, she saw it as an important resource for others in the Jewish community dealing with infertility. She joined the Priya board in 2015 and soon after became board president helping guide its programs and services.
Sosland knows wanting a child and facing infertility is daunting; many couples are uncomfortable talking about problems publicly and lack support on the path to parenthood. However, she said Priya provides a safe and supportive space.
“Priya is not just about financial resources, but emotional support as well having groups where you can talk about it [infertility],” Jane said. “The room is filled with all different people with different stories. To be able to talk and get support is very encouraging.”
Sosland is proud of the work of Priya and JFS and hopes others will reach out for help as needed.
“I do have a strong affinity for the mental health work being done at JFS,” said Sosland, who is a child and adolescent psychologist and clinical associate professor at the University of Kansas Medical Center. “Knowing that there is somewhere people can go regardless of their ability to pay is so important.”
Last December, Sosland joined the JFS Board of Directors.
“It was pretty good timing for me because I had been working from home doing telehealth,” she said. “I do have a greater appreciation for what JFS does, and now it’s in my own backyard since I leave near the Brookside area.”
In her nine months since joining the board, Sosland has learned much more about the breadth of services at JFS.
“I am so impressed by how well run the organization is and how professional, hardworking, and talented the board members and board president are,” she said.
In addition to her work with JFS, Sosland is a founding board member and past board president of Turning Point: The Center for Hope and Healing and serves on the board of Congregation Beth Shalom’s Early Childhood Education Center.
Sosland’s volunteer spirit has rubbed off on the couple’s children. A second-year medical student at the University of Kansas, Sam volunteers at the JayDoc Free Clinic. Max spent a summer in Berlin volunteering for IsraAid helping Syrian refugees. Leah worked at Urban Farming Guys and volunteered recently at KC Tenants, educating people of their rights in avoiding eviction.
If you would like to volunteer with JFS, please email or call (913) 730-1410.
