To report child abuse or neglect, please call 416.638.7800 x 6234. Outside of regular business hours, please call our after-hours answering service at 1-800-404-1393 to be redirected to one of our staff. We are available 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.
JF&CS'COVID-19
Response and Impact
These are unprecedented times. Today, JF&CS continues to face new challenges this pandemic has presented in ensuring the safety and well-being of clients as well as dealing with the influx of new calls asking for support, both emotional and financial, as a result of COVID-19.
We are here for our community and continue to provide our clients with support and care during this trying time. Please keep scrolling through this page to learn about JF&CS’ response to the challenges this pandemic has brought to JF&CS and the incredible way our staff and community have stepped up, ensuring the safety and well being of our clients.
As the pandemic continues, we want to provide you with some valuable facts and figures that will highlight how COVID-19 has changed the needs of so many of our clients. Click below to view our infographics.
Click to read the full letter from Sharon List, our Board President.
During COVID-19, Jewish Family and Child Service remains committed to serving our community.
JF&CS is currently running a wide array of programming, including online counselling, woman abuse services, child welfare services, hospice services, financial assistance and more. Click here for a complete listing of programs and services.
JF&CS' Intake Team continues to respond to calls from the community about financial and mental health concerns and situations involving the safety and security of vulnerable people.
JF&CS' Family Resource Centre is now providing online programming, with more than 2000 families having already participated.
Jewish Family and Child Service has seen an increased need for Financial Assistance:
In the last 7 weeks*, JF&CS has distributed over $50,000 in direct financial assistance, including $20,000 to help women and children free themselves from abusive situations.
*March 16, 2020 – May 1, 2020
JF&CS' Holocaust Survivor Emergency Assistance Program received 75 new calls in one week, including 30 requests for food.
Together with other community agencies, JF&CS was able to:
Deliver hundreds of Seder and Shabbat meals with Chabad Midtown to isolated community members.
“Thank you so much! It was wonderful. I can’t remember the last time I had a fresh salad (I don’t usually buy fresh veg because they’re expensive and they go bad too quickly). It was a beautiful meal (salad, soup, main course, dessert, rolls to make motzi, and even a little candle-lighting kit!), and it meant so much when I’ve been feeling so lousy. Thank you again for thinking of me; you’re the best.”
- Shabbat dinner recipient
Maintain our partnerships with the York Region District School Board, TanenbaumCHAT, Associated Hebrew Schools and Eitz Chaim Day Schools to provide Social Work support to students and their families.
Partner with Luke’s Place to provide virtual legal support to at-risk women and their children.
JF&CS continues its leadership role among helping professionals who are delivering essential services.
JF&CS has procured and shared Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) with a number of partner organizations, including a hospital.
From one of our clients...
"As a senior living in Toronto on a limited and fixed income, I looked forward to spending time with my friends at Café Europa and meeting with my social worker every other week.
Now with the pandemic and social distancing, I am very much alone with limited funds for, and access to, food and medication. Thank goodness Claire, my social worker from JF&CS, checks in with me on a daily basis, helping me figure out how to get additional financial support, groceries and any medical supplies I need."
- JF&CS client
*Names and photo have been changed in order to protect the anonymity of our clients.