menorah car parade came down the Benjamin
Franklin Parkway, and “drive-through” events,
to be repeated by many during Purim 2021, were
everywhere. Social Services
Dvora Entin, a specialist in maternal
mental health based in Bala Cynywd,
speaks to clients from her home in
spring 2020
COURTESY OF DVORA ENTIN
FOR OUR COMMUNITY...

JEVS is there.

For more than 80 years, JEVS has been
Making hope happen ® with:
• Job search & career transition services
• Skills training, GED & college degree programs
• Help with addiction, mental health & recovery
• Wide range of services for individuals
with disabilities
Locations throughout Greater Philadelphia
+ online services • jevshumanservices.org
JEVS Human Services partners
with the Jewish Federation of
Greater Philadelphia
40 THE GUIDE 2021/2022
Jevs The strain put on Jewish social services in
Philadelphia was unlike anything faced in recent
memory. It’s not simply that groups like Jewish Family
and Children’s Service of Greater Philadelphia
or Jewish Relief Agency have more people vying
for their services. It’s that those services need
to be provided virtually so they don’t pose a
risk to the provider. Similar dynamics devel-
oped for Federation Housing, the Hebrew Free
Loan Society, HIAS PA, JEVS, the Mitzvah Food
Program and other social service organizations.

Prior to the pandemic, JRA counted on about
1,000 volunteers to deliver a little more than 3,000
boxes of food to clients each month. As of July
2020, 74 food banks ceased operations entirely
and many of them directed their clients to JRA.

Now, fewer than 10% of the typical volunteer base
is permitted inside JRA’s facilities at any given