When Sonni Gittelman first walked through the doors of JFS Richmond as a graduate student intern, she immediately felt a connection.
“I’m Jewish and one of the tenets of Judaism that I feel most strongly about as a social worker is Tikkun Olam, which means repair the world,” Gittelman, who is now a clinician, said. “While in my early years, I thought I can repair all of the world. I know now that that’s not how that works, but doing good things and caring about each other and really being there to show up for people who are struggling is kind of at the core of who I am.”
That philosophy has guided every step of her career.
“The thing about social work is it’s extremely diverse, and there’s lots of paths to take to be helpful to others,” she said.
Her path reflects that diversity.
Gittelman began at Beth Shalom Home as an admissions director, helping families navigate important transitions. She later returned to JFS to work in Soviet resettlement during Operation Exodus, when Jewish families were arriving in the United States seeking new beginnings.
“JFS had a resettlement program that started then and that was a really cool experience,” she said.
Her work continued to evolve. She moved into homeless services, serving as program director for two shelters, before transitioning into the private sector.
“I was in private practice for 15-ish years in the office that’s directly across from my office now, which is weird to see the door that I walked in for a long time,” she said. “I left that because I wanted a salary and benefits, some stability, and here I am.”
Today, that “here I am” represents a full-circle moment.
What has remained constant is her commitment to showing up for people when they need it most.
Her career may not have unfolded exactly as she once imagined when she believed she could “repair all of the world,” but she has helped repair countless individual pieces of it.
Deirdre Arnowitz says
This is such a beautiful, meaningful and well-deserved spotlight on Sonni❣️She and I go back to when she graduated with her masters degree in social work and I was able to have her hired at Beth Sholom supervising her as the Admissions Director; she was awesome and so helpful and caring to so many residents and their families. I have also been so very proud of all that she has been handling at Jewish Family Services where I had done similar things for my first two years after arriving in Richmond and then moving on to Beth Sholom for thirty five years. We have remained connected with my love and caring for her mother whom I continue to visit as well as we sung together for awhile entertaining others! Sonni has so helped repair countless individuals and I have and continue to recommend anyone in need to see Sonni. She is indeed a very committed social worker and has been connected into so many diverse areas with people in need. Mazel tov. I continue to see her when I’m volunteering at JFS helping with various projects.