Those who can, pay
Some JFCS clients can pay for the organization's services, Friedman said.
"We serve people in Pacific Heights who are the pillars of the community and we serve people in the Tenderloin with the same services," she said. "For the people who can afford to pay, we charge; for those who can't afford to pay, we subsidize."
Friedman, who immigrated to the United States after World War II, understands the difficulties families can face and the importance of community services. After her sister, brother and grandparents were among 200 family members killed during the Holocaust, mostly in the Warsaw ghetto, she and her relatives settled in Brooklyn.
"It gave me a special sensitivity to suffering and why it's important for a community to care for its members," she said. "And why it's important for all of us to be involved in social action."
In 1969, Friedman left New York City for UC Berkeley, where she took part in the student activism - the anti-war movement, the women's rights movement, the civil rights movement - unfolding on Sproul Plaza. "Not a lot of school happened that first year," Friedman recalled. "A lot of our leaders of institutions today came out of that period and brought with them, as I did, a lot of values about equality and social justice."
National recognition
During Friedman's tenure at the JFCS, which provides services to 60,000 people of all religions annually, the organization has received national recognition for its programs, including: Parents Place, a resource center for new parents; Seniors-at-Home, an outreach and education system for the elderly; and more recently, the Early Childhood Mental Health Program, which aims to diagnose and treat children's mental health issues "before they become a larger problem," Friedman said. The program was recently studied by Yale University and recognized as a public policy model in children's services.
Given the economic decline of the past six months, Friedman said requests for services have increased 50 percent, an additional seven to 10 cases a day, and the institution has opened or expanded five food pantries.
Still, Friedman said JFCS will have the funds to support its expansion of services. "When you have really deep roots in the community, you find that there are hundreds of thousands of people who deeply care about quality of life and will continue to give even in difficult times," she said. "Because they understand now more than ever is the time to give."
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