By Meryl Feld \ Editor
“We did go out and buy food for families who literally had nothing in their homes,” Hilary Cohen Singer, the executive director of Jewish Vocational Service of Kansas City (JVS), told The Chronicle.
The pandemic has created unprecedented levels of need in the vulnerable communities that JVS serves. Sixty percent of the families that JVS has reached out to are experiencing food insecurity as a result of changes in family finances due to COVID-19.
“When you work a lower wage job, you don’t have anything to fall back on, so one missed paycheck puts you in a crisis situation in terms of being able to meet your basic needs,” Singer said.
JVS works with vulnerable populations to help them achieve self-sufficiency and integrate into the community.
In response to COVID-19, JVS has collected data from 180 different families that they serve. They have found that 70 percent of those families have experienced some sort of “meaningful economic hardship,” such as job loss, furlough or reduced wages. The people they help often work in industries who generally employ those who do not have high levels of education or are just starting out in their careers. “Those kinds of jobs are much more heavily impacted than the economy at large,” Singer said.
“We are raising emergency assistance funding to help provide for basic needs and we’ve done some emergency food purchasing ourselves,” she said, “And we have established a partnership with Jewish Family Services, who will begin providing one week of food a month to families JVS has referred to them.”
This partnership is making it easier for JVS to help with the rest the needs of those they serve. “What we are really seeing is a need for emergency assistance. The food pantry partnership is key, but it’s not sufficient to make sure that people are able to meet their basic needs,” Singer said.
“Even when the initial crisis situation has passed, it’s not like everybody is instantaneously going to be welcomed back to their previous employer. So we are anticipating a longer period of families struggling to get them back to a place where they can provide for themselves.”
Many in our community expected to come together last week to celebrate the 70 years JVS has dedicated to serving the area.
JVS planned to celebrate at its eighth annual Global Table Fundraiser on Sunday, April 19, at The Abbott Event Space in Kansas City, Missouri. COVID-19 prevented this event from being able to take place. JVS expected over 425 people to attend. This was set to be their largest event yet and their largest fundraising event of the year. Their goal was $175,000. They are currently at just over $124,000.
The majority of JVS’s fundraising efforts for 2020 were able to go directly to service and support needs, rather than overhead of the event.
JVS planned to highlight the work they have done over the past 70 years at the event by sharing stories of those they’ve helped, while enjoying international food and music. New plans are still in the works and contingent upon public health concerns.
“JVS is a resource for an underserved portion of the population that doesn’t have easy access in other ways… we are really looking out for people and providing resources to people who might otherwise fall through the cracks,” Singer said.
For Singer, the first word in her organization’s name ‘Jewish’ is at the heart of what they do. “We feel really connected to our Jewish roots and history and are guided by Jewish values… it’s a core part of who we are and why we do what we do. I feel like we are a good connector and ambassador from the Jewish community out to the Kansas City community at large.”
To learn more, get involved or donate visit www.jvskc.org/give.