Early History (1854-1939)
The history of Jewish Family Services of Northeastern New York (JFS-NENY) began with the establishment of a committee the predecessor of Congregation Beth Emeth devoted to the assistance of new immigrants and their families, who came to Albany from Europe. The work of this committee continued to grow over the next decade, as they successfully helped families to settle in the community. By 1869, the Hebrew Benevolent Society, organized by members of Congregations Anshe Emeth and Beth El Jacob was established. By 1875, the Society for Providing a Home for aged, infirm and destitute Israelites, was created, and their 1902 charter changed its name to the Albany Jewish Home Society. The purposes of this organization were expanded to enable the Society to provide care for orphaned children.

The Hebrew Benevolent Society was a volunteer organization charged with distributing alms to the poor and destitute of the city of Albany. In 1875, Israel Nusbaum, prominent in business and political life of Albany, discovered in the Alms House, then-operated by the county, an aged and destitute Jew. Incensed by the idea that any of our people should find themselves in this position, he enlisted the cooperation of concerned members of the community, and with his horse and carriage drove around and collected five cents a week from many of them to give this man a place to live outside the Alms House.

As time went on, social services were being developed and professional work was taking the place of volunteer work in many communities. In 1924 it was proposed that the Boards of the two organizations form a federation of the charities and retain the services of a professional. The new group was known as the Joint Committee.

The Albany Section of the National Council of Jewish Women was organized in 1894, primarily for educational and philanthropic purposes. One of its earliest projects was the provision of financial assistance for families of those afflicted with tuberculosis. In 1925, when the Albany Community Chest eliminated the necessity for individual private appeals, the Council merged this aspect of its purview with the Joint Committee.

The Council's next undertaking was the Farm and Rural Program. Started at the request of the National Council, it was active for over twenty-five years. Eventually, the oversight of this program and its director were incorporated into the Joint Committee, but the financial provision for the program was carried by the Council because its recipients were not residents of Albany. During the early 1930's, at the start of Nazi oppression, the Council furthered the objectives of its national organization by offering a foster care program for German children. Again, professionals from the Joint Committee served the children, with the Council providing funding.

On March 11, 1931, under a special act of the Legislature, the Joint Committee was incorporated as the Albany Jewish Social Service (AJSS).

In November 1937, only a few adult German refugees had begun to arrive, but, dimly, the shape of things to come was evident. Albany Jewish Social Service was ready to meet the emergency: children to be placed; physicians seeking help with their certification by the State Education Department; frantic searches for relatives scattered around the world, affidavit problems and alien registration. Then came family resettlement with jobs, houses, furniture, health, citizenship, social readjustment and the myriad of problems attendant upon the arrival of these newcomers.

1940's
During the 1940's Albany Jewish Social Service established the New American Program and hired Rhea Jacobs as a refugee secretary to assist the families and children who came from Europe. In addition, many requests came to the agency seeking its help in locating relatives and friends overseas. Simultaneously, people in Europe and Palestine were looking for help through national organizations. Many of them were connected with AJSS to assist them in finding people in America.

Prior to 1947, the Board of Albany Jewish Social Service was very active in the caseload of the agency through a Case Committee. Members of the Case Committee assisted in the resolution of client problems. Rose Freund was Executive Secretary during this period and is remembered for her outstanding administrative capacity and empathy for people in need.

Following Avrom Jacob's sudden death in 1946, William Barnet, II, became president. Under his leadership, the Board's by-laws were changed to limit the tenure of Board members and officers. The agency's first psychiatric social worker, Rosemary Antin, was hired as the new Executive Secretary, following Rose Freund's retirement.

During 1948, AJSS's budget was $23,988.97 The agency had a staff of five, including a physician. In addition to providing case work/counseling services, the agency gave financial assistance to those in need, settled new Americans, provided vacations and holiday cheer, assisted with employment problems, and even provided medical and dental services. As the decade came to a close, the agency's goals for the future included developing a program for the elderly and in an effort to better serve the community, working in a closer, more cooperative fashion with other Jewish organizations in the area.

1950's
In 1950, approval was granted to purchase office space at 291 State Street for $17,000 plus the cost of renovations. JSS moved to a new, more spacious location. In 1957, Jewish Social Service became involved in the effort to assist Jews emigrating from Hungary. It was at about the time of this program that the Community Chest requested that JSS initiate a fee system bearing direct relation to the cost of providing services to new Americans. It was also during this time that the board established a $2,000 scholarship foundation for students.

In 1959, seventy-five percent of all the agency work being performed was counseling. This fueled a debate over whether the agency should hire professional psycho-social counselors. Discussion was also given to expanding services to the elderly.

1960's
In 1962, Lewis Muhlfelder replaced Frederick de Beer, Jr. as President of Albany Jewish Social Service. The agency, known as a family counseling agency, was a member at that time of the Community Chest, Council of Community Services and Jewish Community Council. Ralph D. Insel was Executive Secretary of the Agency.

During Alan Iselin's tenure as President, 1966-67, Albany Jewish Social Service changed its name to Albany Jewish Family Services (AJFS). The name change was intended to help break down the perception by potential clients that coming to the agency was only for those seeking charitable assistance.

During the mid 1960's, the agency's efforts to assist new Americans continued. This assistance included financial help, food, household goods and furniture. A new emphasis on assimilating the principally Russian families into American culture and the Albany community was set forth.

As the decade came to a close, the agency recognized the need to broaden services and expand its geographical reach. The means to achieve these two goals were studied and plans developed during the tenure of Sam Strasser, President of the agency from 1967-69.

1970's
Herbert E. Cohen's tenure as president of JFS, 1974-76, was most noted for the successful effort to integrate agency service into the wider community. Between 1974 and 1976, new programs were instituted with the Daughters of Sarah Home for the Aged, local high schools, and SUNY, thus extending counseling to new age groups with critical needs. For the first time, AJFS joined the New York State Association for Family Agencies (NYAFA) in an effort to keep abreast of developments in the social welfare field. This led directly to a successful public relations campaign, including radio public service announcements and a printed brochure, which was responsible for a marked increase in referrals and requests for service. An expansion of clinical staff and substantial increase in the budget (the request to the Jewish Community Council in 1975 was $76,707) contributed to the agency's professionalism.

Under the leadership of Herbert Cohen and later Herman Ungerman (1976-78), the Board considered the need to relocate its headquarters, In 1976, after 25 years at 291 State Street in downtown Albany, AJFS moved to 930 Madison Avenue.

The closing years of the seventies brought new responsibilities and broad changes to AJFS. The agency had metamorphisized from an entity whose major concern in the 30's had been with home relief to a more highly professionalized service treating clients with psychiatric and adjustment problems, dealing with the concerns of the aged, and because of the spasmodic release of the Soviet Jews, ongoing resettlement efforts. Just prior to Sumner Shapiro's term, 1978-80, Ralph Insel, the Executive Director, retired. He left the Board and staff not only with the responsibility of strengthening programs but with the task of recruiting and adapting to new leadership. For a brief period, the agency operated under an interim director, until Allen Yagsur was hired as the new director of the agency.
Due to the efforts of Arlene Boochever, a new JFS scholarship fund was established by the friends, colleagues and business associates of Eli Werlin to recognize his retirement from Urbach, Kahn and Werlin. Further, the development of a branch office in Schenectady was very important in preparing the agency for its current regional role. Finally, a major effort was undertaken to remodel and redecorate the agency's headquarters, improve working conditions for staff and make the offices at 930 Madison Avenue more attractive to clients...

1980's
The 1980's saw an important change in Albany Jewish Family Services as the Board elected, in 1980, its first female president, Carrie Miller. And in 1982, following the resignation of Allen Yasgur, the agency welcomed Allan Goodman as its new Executive Director. These years, during which Marc Salisch was President, also saw successful efforts to develop future leadership for the agency. AJFS was able to attract a good number of prospective leaders to the board who were new to Jewish community leadership. These new board members greatly enhanced AJFS' ability to respond to the changing Jewish community. Also under Marc Salisch's leadership, the JFS Foundation was established.

During Karl Wittman's presidency, 1985-87, JFS initiated several important steps toward improving its programmatic and fiscal future. AJFS started its long-range planning activities, embarked on development of Aprofit centers@ leading to the establishment of the Finders Service, and replaced lay administration of the endowment fund with professional financial management. JFS also improved its internal operations by reorganizing the board's committee structure to allow more efficient functional and participatory leadership. It began computerization of the office, started the practice of case management, and expanded its involvement with sister community organizations. It also began to foster greater involvement with the Federation to promote wider recognition of the agency's contributions and services. 1987 saw the election of the second female president of the agency, Dianne Meckler. During her time in office, the Finders Service became fully operational and the Enriched Housing program at the Ohav Shalom Apartments, which provided support services to the frail elderly, was initiated.

The Enriched Housing program filled an important gap in services to the elderly in Albany and was the first program of its kind in New York State. Finally, the late 1980's saw the opening of a permanent satellite office in Schenectady and an intensified effort to reach out to and work cooperatively with the Schenectady Jewish community.

Under the leadership of Linda Stern (1989-1991), we developed an extensive refugee resettlement service in response to the major influx of Jewish refugees from the Former Soviet Union. We also produced an agency long range plan (see attached document), and employed Anschel Weiss as Executive Director to follow Alan Goodman, who left to take the helm of JFS of Detroit.

1990’s
In the first four years of the nineties, under the able leadership of Karl Brodsky (91-93) and Dan Goldstein (93-95), we closed the Enriched Housing Project due to program difficulties and we expanded our services to the Jewish community. The agency did this through: a) its collaborative and cooperative programs/services with other Jewish institutions (e.g., the Jewish Community Centers, the day schools), and b) Beit Ami programs for the new American community. These activities brought the agency to the attention of the community as a Jewish communal service center in addition to its fine counseling and senior adult services.

From 1995 to 1999, primarily under the presidency of Marv Garfinkel and continuing with Roz Judd, we invested heavily in developing creative and innovative services for the Jewish community through our Jewish Community Outreach Program. These services included the Coalition for Jewish Continuity Family Education Program with several local synagogues, Teen Leadership Project, Community Chaplaincy, bereavement services, and expanded family education, all of which functioned through the support of the United Jewish Federation. These activities enabled the agency to gain a foothold in serving the more affluent community, particularly through our collaborative efforts with the synagogues.

Highlighting our activities of this time period was a) the establishment of the SHALVA Day Center Program for older adults, b) an expansion of our ECOS activities, and c) the conducting of a comprehensive needs assessment of the New American Jewish Community. This project was coordinated by our board committee and involved many volunteers from the New American Community. The information gained enabled the agency to initiate a variety of services that has significantly benefited the New American & Jewish Communities. We have also renewed our efforts to help create comprehensive services so that a continuity of care is available for our older adult population.

The creation of SHALVA program was made possibly by the agency’s move to a larger facility at 877 Madison Avenue in August 1996. This move doubled our physical space and the renovation process gave us the opportunity to provide for our needs ranging from individual counseling areas to large community meetings. As the result of this renovation, the first floor is now handicap accessible with large hallways, doorways and bathrooms. The second floor has been designed to accommodate to handicap accessibility at some future time with the installation of an elevator. In addition, our new facility has a parking area for staff, clients and visitors.

Our counseling services continued to represent a major segment of agency activity and we explored ways to increase our clinical services. For example, we are applied for provider listing with managed care corporations, explored the possibilities of new collaborations, and developed specialized programs that could become a referral source for our counseling services. However, supportive funding from the United Way has steadily declined since 1990, and by 1996 had decreased by more than 55%. The proportion of the overall budget supported by the United Way had dropped to approximately 10% as compared to approximately 28% in the early nineties, while our budget grew from approximately $400,000 to $600,000. Since the United Way allocation represented the only community support for our counseling services, this reduction seriously affected our ability to offer counseling to clients in need of reduced fees and to help those in need of more than short term therapy. This factor, taken with the impact of managed care on agencies such as JFS, presented a serious challenge to our ability to serve the community through its counseling services.

The changing dynamics regarding welfare reform has had a major impact on our resettlement program. In light of the recent legislation and the priority of helping members of the new American community to become citizens, we changed the focus of our services for the refugee population to Absorption and Citizenship. Though we still had a steady influx of approximately 65 new arrivals per year, we devoted our attention to help all eligible refugees in our Jewish community become naturalized citizens and navigate the naturalization system.

The agency acheived national accreditation in October 1998 by the Council on Accreditation....

1999-Present
Primarily under the presidencies of Steve Lobel and Jeff Finkle, the agency has made some significant shifts in its programming mix and community collaborations and cooperative efforts. Highlighting this period has been the significant growth of the Supervised Visitation program, the increased development of in-home counseling services for the elderly, increased acceptance of the Inclusion Project and a successful school social work contract with the Hebrew Academy of the Capital District. In relation to community collaboration, the agency has played an important role in the development of educational and community services for the aging community. We have also become an active participant with the Council of Community Services and the Senior Forum.

As we come close to our 150th year in 2004, the agency is pursuing the development of a Naturally Occurring Retirement Community (NORC) and adoption services. Since 2000 the agency has been involved in the development and execution of a Capital Endowment Fund Campaign that would allow us to become more self-reliant in the support of our programs and services in light of the decreasing availability of community funds.

Since 1997 the agency has continued to expand its services in specific areas of need. Of importance is the Supervised Visitation Program, which is supported by the United Way, and where we have served more than 100 families as they deal with the varying difficulties of family dissolution. We are currently exploring the possible expansion of this program.

We have also increased our Jewish Community Outreach efforts through the establishment of the (a) Inclusion Project which is designed to promote an accepting inclusive attitude towards the Jewish gay lesbian and bi-sexual community in the capital district area; (b) the further growth and enhancement of the teen community service leadership program; and (c) the formation of a children’s after school culture program at the Albany Jewish Community Center for children from former Soviet Union families.
In addition, we have embarked on a path of establishing collaborative and cooperative working arrangements with other Social/Human Service agencies in the community. To date, we (a) have developed a partnership with the Home Care Division of the Eddy that will enable us to increase our services to senior adults in the community; and (b) have helped to create and sustain the Senior Link Network -- a collaboration of four major Jewish agencies serving the elderly in the capital district (Daughters of Sarah, Albany Jewish Community Center, Schenectady Jewish Community Center and Jewish Family Services).
It should be noted that our ability to develop programs and services to respond to the needs of the Jewish community is based on the wonderful support we have and continue to receive from the United Jewish Federation.
The agency achieved national accreditation in October 1998 by the Council on Accreditation.

Into the 21st Century
In the past two years, Jewish Family Services continued to receive significant support from the United Jewish Federation allowing it to maintain its programs in the community. Simultaneously, Jewish Family Services has seen a significant growth in its Supervised Visitation Program, highlighted by the funding we received from Member Items and foundation grants to expand the program into Rensselaer County. We have also seen significant activity in collaboration efforts with Daughters of Sarah Nursing Center to engage in community outreach activities targeting the older population.

The agency has been actively involved in the past two years in working with SUNYA School of Social Welfare in its efforts to develop the concept of "University in the Community." In addition, we have been very active in the school’s efforts to develop its gerontological programs, with the help of a grant from the Hartford Foundation. This project will enable the agency to have gerontological interns who will work in our Senior Adult Program. Staff of the agency will share their expertise in the training of future social workers at the school.

It should also be noted that the agency received support in the form of a grant from HIAS (Hebrew Immigration Aid Society) to enable the agency to establish some innovative programming for the New American Community and we hope this will be continued in the future.

The Board and the Community support of our Friends Campaign has been noteworthy in the past two years. As we look ahead to future Friends Campaigns, we anticipate increasing both the number of our Friends as well as the amount in the average gift to the agency.

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