April 7, 2005


Jewish Family Service of Silicon Valley celebrates 25 years of giving

Group honors founder Burt Epstein of Almaden

By Lorraine Gabbert
Staff Writer

Celebrating 25 years of providing for the community, members and supporters of Jewish Family Service of Silicon Valley gathered at the Dolce Hayes Mansion on Sunday evening for their Silver Anniversary Gala.

JFSSV President Rosalie Sogolow and Executive Director Mindy Berkowitz show off resolutions received from the State Assembly commending their agency.

The event honored JFSSV founder Burt Epstein and featured a dinner, musical revue and auction, and raised funds for the agency’s Project N.O.A.H. (No One Abandoned Here), which brings basic care to those in need.

Serving more than 6,000 people per year, JFSSV is committed to improving the community by feeding the hungry, sheltering the homeless, and offering essential services and support. The organization also works with schools and youth groups to train teenagers to become future leaders in volunteerism, social action and community service.

“We’re not only here to celebrate,” stated Board President Rosalie Sogolow, “but also to honor all of the wonderful individuals who made it possible for Jewish Family Service to fulfill it mission of helping members of our community successfully meet the challenges of daily life in the spirit of tikun alam, the Jewish tradition of repairing the world.”

Jewish Family Service of Silicon Valley provides social, vocational, senior, counseling and refugee resettlement services. The agency also provides English as a Second Language (ESL) classes and citizenship training. In addition, it is currently spearheading the Silicon Valley Jewish Council on Aging, a community-wide collaboration regarding senior care.

“The staff and volunteers at JFSSV are committed to helping those in need,” said Executive Director Mindy Berkowitz.

“Great possibilities and opportunities emerge when people come together to serve their communities and help others,” stated Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger in a letter to JFSSV. “I applaud your comprehensive and compassionate assistance. Your generous efforts make California a better place for families to live and thrive.”

Congressman Mike Honda also wrote, recognizing JFSSV for their Holocaust survivor services. “Not only does this program assist the survivors of the Holocaust with its case management services,” said Honda, “it provides a valuable link through its efforts to promote tolerance and justice through educating members of the community.”

Founder Burt Epstein is honored
In addition, JFSSV and honoree Burt Epstein, who lives in Almaden, received framed resolutions from the California State Assembly recognizing their contributions to the community.

The idea of founding JFSSV came to Epstein while serving on the board of Family Services Association of Santa Clara County. Community volunteer extraordinaire, Epstein was honored for his contributions during the past 30 years. Besides serving as loan executive for the United Way, he chaired San Jose’s Chamber of Commerce environmental task force, and co-chaired a transportation task force, which obtained funding for BART and the 85 and 87 freeways. Epstein also volunteered at Good Samaritan Hospital, where he not only served on the hospital’s auxiliary board, but also pushed wheelchairs, ran errands for the staff, and delivered flowers to patients.

JFSSV Founder and Silver Anniversary Gala Honoree Burt Epstein reflects on his legacy. Epstein lives in Almaden Valley.

In the Jewish community, Epstein served on the boards of Temple Emanu-El, the San Jose Federation and Chai House. He also organized San Jose’s Jewish Film Festival and the South Bay Institute’s Jewish Education Programs, and currently serves on JFSSV’s Advisory Council.

“Giving back to the community is part of Burt’s fabric of life,” says event chair Michelle Gabriel. “While there is no question that Burt’s footprint has been indelibly set in stone within the Jewish community, he has not confined himself to that alone.”

Epstein believes that it is each person’s individual responsibility to do what he or she can to bring about an era of good will and well being and a better world. After sharing a moving tribute from Epstein’s daughter, Robin Schneider, and grandson, Matthew Schneider, Sogolow revealed that Robin had established the Bert Epstein Community Service Fund in honor of her dad, which will provide support for collaborations between JFSSV and other groups.

“We thought this would be a great way to honor Burt,” said Berkowitz, “because it typifies what he’s about—doing community service throughout the community.”

JFSSV’s ESL and vocational training program includes students from Africa, Iran, the former Soviet Union and Bosnia, among others. “Their goal is to become self-sufficient, and in order to do that, they need to find a job,” said Vocational ESL and Job Search Skills teacher Alex Scott, “and that’s what we help them do. It’s challenging and rewarding to help people take their first steps here.”

Sogolow is proud of the senior ESL program, which she established for elderly émigrés 18 years ago, when there was a huge influx from the former Soviet Union. “There were ESL classes for the younger people, but the older ones were suffering from acute depression as they couldn’t work or do anything, not being able to speak English,”

she said. “I feel personally proud of being involved in helping to resettle these people and to ease their transition. The United Way is so impressed with the organization’s ESL and job training program that they are using it as a model for their new Community Impact program.

This September, JFSSV will be relocating to the Gloria and Ken Levy Campus in Los Gatos, along with the Jewish Federation, Jewish Community Center, Yavneh Day School and Jewish Family Service. Sogolow believes that their proximity with these other organizations will herald a time of growth for JFSSV and further improve the quality of life for community residents. “We’re going to be able to do so much more once we’re all together sharing this beautiful campus,” she said. “It’s very exciting.”

Berkowitz is proud of the way this organization does business. “There’s a real value on integrity, honesty, quality of service, kindness and caring for people at JFSSV,” she said. “It’s an agency where everything comes from the heart, made up of the most consistently warm, caring group of people I’ve ever worked with.”

According to Sogolow, one of the main goals of the celebration was to introduce the organization to the community at large. “We want people to know that we’re here for them,” she said.

Berkowitz also believes that the organization is poised to do great things and sees the gala as a ‘coming out party’ for the agency. “We have been one of the community’s great secrets and my goal is to change that bringing in the partners we need to go forward,” she said. “It’s about being able to do more for more people.”

“We welcome support and interest from the community as well as from people who need help,” she added,

“Anyone who is interested should feel free to contact us on the giving, or the taking end, or anywhere in between.”

The Jewish Family Service of Silicon Valley can be contacted at 408-556-0600 or online at www.jfssv.org.