Jewish Family Services
Created when the Jewish Children’s Home (earlier, the Orphans’ Home) closed in 1948, Jewish Family Services opened its services to the city without regard for race or religious denomination in 1982.
Julanne Isaacson’s tenure at NCJW prepared her to lead Jewish Family Services into this new service to the larger New Orleans community. As president of NCJW, Isaacson oversaw a study of community needs out of which came a recreation program at the Youth Study Center (juvenile detention center) and a two-year social work scholarship for a probation officer, thus professionalizing the court for the first time. Julanne continued her work as executive director of JFS from 1973 to 1994.
Deena Gerber led JFS from 1994 to 2013. A social worker by training, Gerber has taught at Tulane University’s School of Social Work and the Loyola University of New Orleans’s Department of Governmental Studies. She brought her particular interest in care for the elderly to JFS. In December 2011, President Obama honored her with the Champion of Change Award for the work of Jewish Family Services under her leadership after Hurricane Katrina.
Roselle Unger has been the National Vice President and board member of Hadassah. This and other work within the Jewish community moved her into a career of professional philanthropy and fundraising which, in turn, prepared her for her roles as acting director of the Jewish Federation during Katrina and, currently (2019), the executive director of JFS.
Deena Gerber, Julanne Isaacson, Roselle Ungar. Photograph, ca. 2015. Photo courtesy of Donna Matherne, Face to Face Photography.
Roselle Ungar – Living in New Orleans
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