Jewish Family Services Edmonton

Guided by the Hebrew phrase “Tikkun Olam,” meaning to restore or heal a broken world, Jewish Family Services offers a wide breadth of services to Edmontonians of all faiths and cultural backgrounds.

While the vast majority of Jewish Family Services’ programming is available to all members of the community, two programs specifically assist individuals of Jewish descent: the Seniors Making Age-Related Transitions, or SMART, program, and support for Holocaust Survivors.

Although many who witnessed the atrocities of the Second World War have long since passed, the trauma caused by Nazi persecution is still felt by many survivors and their families. Support for these survivors requires a special understanding and sensitivity to the suffering they endured in their early life.

Following the end of the Second World War, the Conference on Jewish Material Claims Against Germany (also known as the Claims Conference), began work to obtain justice for Jewish victims. Today, the Claims Conference offers grants to nonprofits around the world that support Jewish Holocaust survivors.

Jewish Family Services is the only agency in Edmonton authorized through the Claims Conference to help survivors receive reparations and care assistance from the German Government. This funding is income-tested and survivors must still be living independently in order to qualify. Currently more than 100 survivors in Edmonton receive support with housekeeping, personal care and other types of assistance through Jewish Family Services.

SEF supports Jewish Family Services with cash flow to cover the immediate costs of providing services while funds are in transit from the granting agency.