F TAY-SACHS
R F R E E E E
H eadlines
Agencies Continued from Page 1
seen a significant increase in
community members reaching
out for support since the start
of the pandemic, a trend she
expects to continue.

“I would say we’ve seen,
between March and August,
500 new households. We
typically average 24 new
households a month, and now
we’re averaging 72 households
a month,” she said.

JRA clients receive a 15-pound
box of food on a monthly basis,
and the agency has recently
added safety supplies like hand
sanitizers, masks and toilet paper
to the relief packages. Last month,
JRA packed and distributed 3,865
boxes of food and 100 toiletry
bags. Before the pandemic, the
average number of monthly boxes
packed hovered between 3,200
and 3,300.

Increased need for food
means increased need for JRA
volunteers and staff.

“We have this incredible
group of volunteers that we call
upon, and we also are always
asking for more volunteers
from the community to help us
get all the food we’re packing
out to individuals in the
community,” Roth-Saks said.

“And the thing that we’re doing
to help us be successful right
now is we’re relying on the
volunteers to actually deliver
the food, but we’re also relying
on a new labor force that we’ve
hired to help us pack all the
food.” Due to social distancing
requirements and safety proto-
cols, the number of volunteers
allowed in a warehouse at a
given time is limited, which
slows the packing process
significantly. Roth-Saks knew it
would take more than volunteer
shifts to meet the growing need
for food, so the organization
hired contracted employees
to speed up the process. In
addition to food packers, the
organization hired warehouse
cleaners to make sure the work
environment is safe.

An expanded staff and
expanded inventory can’t
happen without expanded
JRA volunteers make a delivery to a client’s home.
JEWISHEXPONENT.COM funding. Roth-Saks said JRA
has been able to bring in more
funds via grant writing and
partnerships and plans to host
its 20th annual fundraising
event, “Whatever It Takes: A
Livestreaming Show to End
Hunger,” on Oct. 25.

Brian Gralnick, director
of social responsibility at
Jewish Federation of Greater
Philadelphia, said most of the
organization’s agencies antic-
ipate an increase in clients as
long as there is no vaccine.

Mitzvah Food Program is
looking into setting up more
outdoor pickup points with
tents and portable heaters
for volunteers, as well as
maintaining food delivery
outside their pantries. Gralnick
also said KleinLife is keeping
an eye on the impact of colder
weather and mental health
concerns for senior clients who
have been isolated for months.

Hebrew Free Loan Society
of Greater Philadelphia, which
provides community financial
support in the form of loans,
Photo by Elvera Gurevich
JEWISH EXPONENT
has created a new COVID-19
loan designed to help people
address short-term costs.

“We didn’t want people to
take on additional and uncom-
fortable debt, but it just might be
that bridge in a short-term diffi-
cult financial situation or to solve
a really immediate problem,”
said Amy Krulik, president of
the board of directors.

She is anticipating that
the pandemic will linger for
at least six months to a year.

The organization is planning
accordingly, but the economic
uncertainty makes it hard
to predict what kind of loan
requests it will face in the
upcoming months.

“What I suspect is that we
may find some requests from
some unexpected places,” she
said. People may take out fewer
loans for cars and more for
home improvement, as more
time spent at home puts more
pressure on plumbing and
heating systems.

Jewish Family
and Children’s Service of Greater
Philadelphia staff
have carefully monitored eviction
moratoriums for clients strug-
gling with housing payments.

Courtney Owen, JFCS’
director of individual and
family services, said that
although moratoriums have
helped delay rent payments,
they haven’t solved all housing
issues, and renters who have
benefited from the morato-
riums may still be unable to
pay several months of back rent
and utilities. Owen said it is still
crucial for clients to know their
rights, and access any benefits
they may be entitled to.

She also said JFCS has
witnessed an increased need for
mental health services and antic-
ipates the number of requests
for telehealth counseling will
remain high well into fall
and winter. The organization
maintains a hotline for isolated
seniors in need of support and
& & TAY-SACHS
CANAVAN CANAVAN
SCREENING SCREENING
CALL (215) 887-0877
FOR DETAILS
e-mail: ntsad@aol.com;
visit: www.tay-sachs.org
■ Screening for other
Jewish Genetic Diseases
also available.

This message is sponsored by a friend of
Nat’l Tay-Sachs & Allied Diseases
Association of Delaware Valley
has formed several support
groups on topics ranging from
parenting during the pandemic
to suicide prevention.

The organization is looking
to increase its counseling staff as
it strives to help clients cope with
overwhelming uncertainty.

“Mental health has always
had such a big need in all of
our communities, but right now
it’s something that’s impacting
everybody. And we know that
that’s sort of snowballing the
longer this goes on,” Owen said.

She and her colleagues
encourage clients to take action
before a problem becomes
an emergency, whether that
means keeping up with as
many bills as possible, reaching
out to landlords before back
rent comes due or seeking
mental health counseling.

“We don’t want people to
wait until it becomes a crisis
point to reach out to us,”
Owen said. “If people feel like
they need financial or social
support, or they’re unsure of
what to do right now, or they’ve
lost their job or have any situa-
tion that could be supported
and they’ve maybe never
reached out for help before
that, we’re here. Those are the
individuals that we really want
to connect with, because the
sooner we get involved to help
somebody, the better we can
meet their needs.” l
spanzer@jewishexponent.com; 215-832-0729
OCTOBER 22, 2020
17