Jewish Family Services, the agency dedicated to helping others with life’s challenges, has been growing its own family!
Ten members of the JFS staff either have become parents or will be new parents this year! The “baby boom” at JFS has brought smiles to many faces at the agency’s two offices at the Jewish Community Campus and Brookside East. Staff members have been working as a team making sure their JFS responsibilities are covered and client’s needs are met while their colleagues are out of the office on parental leave.
To date, there have been eight JFS babies to arrive on the scene:
- Taylor Renee Overly (February 2017) & Adeline Ellis Overly (February 2018), daughters of Jen Lydon, Program Coordinator
- Truman Everett Albin (July 2017), daughter of Sarah Albin, Older Adult Care Manager
- Emmett Maccabee Friedman (December 2017), son of Taly Friedman, Volunteer Engagement Director
- Lucy Marilyn Hess (April 2018), daughter of Molly Hess, Community Connector, Tribe KC
- Eliana Link Ferguson (August 2019), daughter of Sarah Ferguson, Mental Health Coordinator
- Nia Mya Elkins (December 2018), daughter of Porsche Elkins, Developmental Disabilities Specialist and Missouri Food Pantry Coordinator
- Hadley Evelyn Yost (December 2018), daughter of Ryan Yost, Care Management Intern
Three additional JFS “babies” are due on the scene this year thanks to Laura Gilman, Director of Older Adult Services (March); Sara Chao, Russian-speaking Care Manager (March) and Lauren Glass, Therapist (May).
Among the new parents is Molly Hess of TribeKC, a partnership program of JFS, University of Kansas Hillel and the Jewish Federation of Greater Kansas City. After having her daughter Lucy, Hess was a little nervous about her transition back to work.
“JFS made it so easy to return to work after maternity leave,” Hess said. “Between feeling welcomed back with open arms by my colleagues, and the comfortable accommodations for me to continue to pump and feed my daughter, I feel truly blessed to be a part of the JFS community.”