The words we use when communicating have value. They not only convey fact, but they evoke feeling. Using positive adoption language helps to dispel adoption myths, emphasize the importance of family and reflect the true nature of adoption. By using accurate adoption language we help educate others and diminish the misconceptions of adoption. Terms to […]
Thanksgiving Card Project
Today Joaquin Torres of Mr. Christopher Kresge’s class at Echo Lake Elementary presented JFS with a set of festive handmade greeting cards for the annual Evens Fund Thanksgiving gift card project. This project is done in conjunction with donations from the Evens Food Fund via the Richmond Jewish Federation. The funds are used to buy […]
JFS Welcomes Anna Cameron, LCSW
Jewish Family Services is proud to announce our newest counseling clinician, Anna Cameron. Anna is a Licensed Clinical Social Worker (LCSW) and holds a certificate in early childhood education from VCU. Anna comes to JFS with 13 years of clinical experience and 11 years of program management. Anna has experience addressing issues with abuse and […]
Telephone Reassurance Volunteers
For almost 50 years the Telephone Reassurance (TR) Program at JFS Richmond has provided security and socialization for older adults across the Greater Richmond Area. The program first started when the late Anne Lane, former JFS Executive Director, recognized that elder care was and would be a growing concern in the community. Since then, every […]
Social Connection, a Public Health Priority
A recent scientific study by Julianne Holt-Lunstad, David A. Sbarra, and Theodore F. Robles has indicated that being embedded in high-quality close relationships and feeling socially connected to the people in one’s life is associated with decreased risk for all-cause mortality as well as a range of disease morbidities. These findings provide evidence that social […]
JFS Congratulates its Second Cohort of PCA Graduates
Our most recent cohort of the JFS Personal Care Aide (PCA) School graduated two students on August 30th. Friends and family of the graduates, as well as JFS staff, gathered to honor their accomplishment. The JFS PCA School is two weeks and over 40 hours of curriculum and skills acquisition on how to effectively perform […]
New research gives hope for those battling mental health issues
Over the past decade mental illness has become less stigmatized and now most of us know at least one person who has struggled with a mental illness. For some time, epidemiologists have known that at any given point roughly 20 to 25 percent of the population suffers from a mental disorder. A recent long-term study […]
The Caregiver Gain
A 2011 study by Dr. Lisa Fredman, a Boston University epidemiologist, found the gains in caregiving. Recent studies have shown that caregivers proved stronger on cognitive and physical tests. Dr. Fredman disputes the assumption that all caregivers experience a burden in their caregiving through her “healthy caregiving hypothesis”. Her studies provide some evidence that caregivers, […]
End-of-Life Care
According to a survey by The Conversation Project, a Boston-based public education campaign to get people talking about end-of-life care, about 9 in 10 Americans want to discuss end-of-life care with their loved ones’, but roughly 3 in 10 Americans have actually done so. Learning how to start a conversation is hard and there is […]
How to Boost Your Resilience Midlife
Building resilience is an important thing to teach early in life, and it is just as important to practice midlife. Scientists who study stress and resilience say it’s important to think of resilience as an emotional muscle that can be strengthened at any time. Dr. Dennis Charney, co-author of the book “Resilience: The Science of […]