Can You Make A Holiday Impact In 10 Minutes? My Guest: Donna O'Steen, LJD-JFCS

Have you ever wondered about the struggles faced by local families and how you can help? 
The LJD Jewish Family and Community Services, contrary to popular belief, doesn't just cater to the Jewish population, but to anyone in need, with a staggering 85% of their clientele being non-Jewish. Our conversation underscores the agency's all-encompassing approach to servicing the community, including their standing as the largest foster care and adoption provider in the surrounding counties.

The holiday season is around the corner and there's no better way to spread joy than by participating in the gift-giving program at JFCS. Find out how the community rallies together to make a difference in the lives of children in need. Donna walks us through various ways to contribute - from sponsoring a child to organizing collection drives. We round up the conversation by acknowledging the commendable efforts of our community members in engaging more people with the agency. So, tune in, be inspired and discover how you can transform your community.

To contact Donna O'Steen for a Holiday Gift List email Dosteen@jfcsjax.org
www.jfcsjax.org

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Transcript

Speaker 1: 0:01

Back in the 1900s, as a student at the Yeshiva of Flappish High School, go Falcons, we were obligated to obtain 40 Chesed hours a week. Chesed Hebrew for generosity of spirit and kindness was different than chores or even extracurricular activities. Also, this was not quite volunteer community service. This was more like voluntold fake it till you make it trust you will leave here. Better than we found you hours this was. You are not graduating without 160 Chesed hours in four years. These were. You will not be obtaining these at your uncle's office or a sign off from a family friend.

Speaker 1: 0:40

Hours Built into each class was an example of how to give back In. Twice a year you and a friend could rotate and do Tomchay Shabbat. At first it was the idea that we could skip three periods to go grocery shopping for food for a family in need, but by the end of freshman year we understood the assignment. Each class would begin with a budget of $20 and throughout the week we would each contribute what we could. On Friday, two students would shop the avenue and fill a box with food for a family in need. While we had been instructed to make it enough for the Shabbat meals, each of us knew that whatever was in there would likely last as a subsidy until the following Friday. We were asked to provide not only nourishment but support and hope. We were given a task, but we learned compassion. Our school opened our eyes to our responsibility as global citizens in a personal way, by showing us that we can make a difference. So can we go back as adults and make up all those missed Chesed hours, and that's what we are going to tackle today.

Speaker 1: 1:56

Hi, I'm Sue's here with your weekly dose of culture, values and identity, and where we tackle those topics others may consider off limits. A little about me. I'm a busy Gen X mom who, quite frankly, wanted to grow up like the Brady Bunch. But how could I, being raised in the shadow of Schindler's list? So this means I've spent a lifetime navigating these mixed messages we get hit with daily. You know those conversations where we wonder if it's safe to speak our minds. Can we share our experiences, voice our fears and concerns, or should we just keep our mouths shut? Well, too bad. I need to know, but I'm no expert, so I'm going to schmooze the experts and get their thoughts. Why so? When we engage with our kids, colleagues or the countless committees we interact with, we can do it with competence, kindness, confidence and maybe a bit of humor. If this sounds like your cup of coffee, welcome to Schmooze with Sue's.

Speaker 1: 2:54

My guest has had me shopping for gifts, sitting at desks to check and foster visitation, convincing people to visit and even bring a baseball team to build a house to reunify a family. I've shared my story, my time, talent and treasure, spreading the agency's message and more. When she calls, I have the urge to respond, like the Jews at Mount Sinai Naasev Vanishma. I will do and then I'll listen to what you're asking. Donna Osteen is the volunteer specialist and coordinator and holiday gift giving master at the LJD Jewish Family and Community Services. She is based mostly out of their Dupont Circle location, which is where the Max Block food pantry, fannie Landworth clothing closet and the holiday gift giving, along with various feeding northeast Florida collaboration, stem from. Hi Donna, hello there, beautiful Takes one to no one. Let's talk a little bit about how we first met. Do you remember that I strolled in and I just wanted to do some kind of volunteer and I didn't know what?

Speaker 2: 4:04

I do remember that actually, so let's start at the beginning.

Speaker 1: 4:08

Right for someone like me who had this passion to give back, but I didn't even know where to begin. I came into the volunteer coordinator and I said can I help?

Speaker 2: 4:21

I'm never going to tell somebody, no, they can't help. I'm always going to say, yes, you can help. What do you want to do?

Speaker 1: 4:28

And that was what I thought was so exceptional. Donna didn't just put me right to work. We wanted to ensure that I was the gift that kept on giving. Yes, I did so. Talk to me a little bit about what your thought process is, because I felt that it was so well taken care of from the explanation of how one goes about becoming a volunteer for the agency and all the different ways that you questioned what my interests and passions were to match me with the right fit.

Speaker 2: 4:58

Well, you can't just come in and you can come in and you want that person to have the best experience possible. You want them to be passionate, the same kind of passion that you have about the agency, about the agency that they're volunteering for. So when you came in and you said I want to help, I wanted you to have the same passion that I had about the LJD Jewish Family and Community Services. So I wanted you to find that one little niche, that made you happy, and that's exactly what happened.

Speaker 1: 5:30

So it starts off with the background screening and fingerprinting, which was something that I thought was extremely important. To be a volunteer is a safe space for your agencies. They have to be Right and did I have to pay out of pocket for?

Speaker 2: 5:46

this. You did not have to pay one red cent. So how does that work? So if we're going to ask you to do something for us as an agency, we're going to put the bill for that. We are going to make sure that all expenses are covered to make sure that you're cleared to volunteer for our agency. So when you come in and you fill out the paperwork for us, we're going to let you see our human resources people and we're going to set you up for the background check as well as the fingerprinting. So anywhere that you go, the only thing that you'll have to pay for is the gas to get there.

Speaker 1: 6:22

So the LGD Jewish Family and Community Services has been invested in the success of Northeast Florida since 1917. People don't always know that it's over a hundred years strengthening the entire community through services that aid people of all ages, races, religion, sexual orientations and background. While their quality programs may be diverse, they are unified by their guiding mission to help people help themselves by providing quality social and community services across the life spectrum to enhance the lives of children, adults, seniors and families coping with challenges that arise throughout the life cycle. So when I started off volunteering with your agency, it was at the food pantry and clothing closet and initially I remember it was. The food pantry was open Tuesdays and Thursdays and it still is between one and three.

Speaker 1: 7:17

Yes, it sure is, and back then it was this. The time flew because there were so many people that were coming in, and I want you to explain a little bit about the dignity that you provide your clients when they come to the food pantry.

Speaker 2: 7:39

We want to make sure when people come to the food pantry that it's not like coming to a food pantry. So when they come in, it's you greet them like they're coming into a grocery store. We make sure that we ask them how they're doing, we ask them their stories. If they're comfortable talking to us, we make sure to pull them aside and talk to them and we make them feel like it's just like they walk into publics. It's not like they're walking into a food pantry, it's. There's a lot of dignity, it's. You know, we try to make them feel special.

Speaker 1: 8:09

Right, there's a personal shopper that brings you a shopping carriage and asks you your choices which of those vegetables you prefer, which of the condiments are the ones that you know, and there are some extra things that are treats as well that are occasionally show up. So, in my experience, having been at the food pantry while I was sitting there and I would move over to the clothing closet and the children's clothing closet the Fannie Landworth children's clothing closet it was originally designed to fill the needs of the foster care population, Originally, yes, what has happened since then? Because that's how I experienced it.

Speaker 2: 8:51

So what's happened since then is we have started opening the Fannie Landworth clothes closet to the public during the food pantry hours. So where we started just providing it to foster and prevention children that are in the system right now, it's now open to the public. So the public is receiving those free and gently used clothing. So we're on track to double the clothing that we have given over the last few years. This year it has grown substantially just in the last six months.

Speaker 1: 9:24

So that's one of those wraparound services that Jewish family constantly necessitates. Someone comes in and they're hungry, and they walk in with two children and a volunteer will graciously offer to watch their children so that they can have that dignified experience. And while they're there and the children in my experience usually poke their heads into the closet first They'll see the clothes, they'll see some toys because you have some collections of stuffies in there and they'll right away be curious. And then what typically happens is that the moms become curious but they're embarrassed and they don't want to ask. And your volunteers are so fantastic that the first thing they do is grab the little child's hand and say, if your mom lets, I have something that you can take.

Speaker 2: 10:14

So yeah, that's one of the things. Now we don't even ask anymore, we just go and grab something and give it to the child and that opens the door for conversation.

Speaker 1: 10:23

So somebody who felt that they were there in a position of need now feels like they're there to assist you, to offer assistance to their child. They feel like they're in on it Absolutely, and that's part of what keeps people interested in coming back and utilizing the services that you offer, because it's designed to fulfill the needs of lifting up the entire community. So let's talk a little bit about that food pantry. When I started there, there was a limitation to how many times people could come. It was twice a year in 12 months. Now this is pre-COVID. Since then, the needs have grown exponentially. Yes, they have. Can you tell me more about numbers? Talk to me.

Speaker 2: 11:16

So in 2021-22, we served 15,000 people a little over 15,000 people. In the last fiscal year, 2022-23, we served 19,411 people. That's 8,476 households providing 194,000 meals. Now we're one of the smaller pantries in Jacksonville. That's a lot, and we also have four satellite pantries. We serve three schools George Washington, Carver, Boclair Elementary School, Andrew Jackson High School, and we also have a satellite pantry on the west side called Inspire to Rise, and we distributed over 8 million pounds of food last year.

Speaker 1: 11:59

Yeah. So I want to talk a little bit about the satellite pantries, because this is taking it to the next level, right? The first thing that happens is when people have a need, we have this ability to fill that need and we say here it is okay, but transportation is an obstacle, can't always get to where I need to go to get what I need, to get, right, so let me bring what you need to you. And so it turned out that the teachers and these social workers at these various schools were contacting your agency and saying, hey, there's more need that we can even come pick up on our own. Is there a possibility that you can transport this stuff here and have it as a satellite location? And came to be known that it was more than just the students of the school, it was their families, right? So you take what you start with here in its location and now you're bringing it out into the community. How can you afford to do this as an agency?

Speaker 2: 12:57

Well, thankfully, we've had some organizations step up and support us, do grant funding. So we're very thankful to those corporations and they've allowed us, over the course of several years, to continue this and we're hoping that we can continue to grow and continue to add more schools.

Speaker 1: 13:15

Unbelievable, unbelievable. So, in addition to the services that you provide with the food pantry and the clothing closet, those are two basic necessities when we look at Maslow's hierarchy of needs food, shelter, safety are the base level. Your you personally, donna Osteen are there in that facility, seeing people that are coming in meeting their very basic needs. Yes, now, once you're finding them and you're able to engage with them in that way, you get to talk to them and find out what other things that they might need help with, things like past due, rent, mortgage, electricity, water, natural gas, health counseling, mental health counseling. Do you then have the opportunity to walk them through to the next step?

Speaker 2: 14:06

Actually yes, and that's the beauty of the LJD Jewish Family and Community Services. That's what we provide. We provide the wrap around services that all of our clients need. So not only we're the starting point Max Block food pantry, fannie Land, earth clothing closet we're the starting point for clients, and after they come to see us, we can provide them with the wrap around services that they need. When I say wrap around services, we can provide them then with mental health counseling. We can provide them with financial assistance. We can also provide them with, you know, any other kind of services.

Speaker 1: 14:38

Yeah everything, including independent living needs, that can help them to get back on their feet Right. So it's unbelievable, because I've been there myself to see just how you do that, and it's by having conversation. So I'm going to ask you this, right? What happened was that, after she already has me schlepping and going and bringing and volunteering, I'll do anything, right, I'm oh negative, I'll give you my blood if you want it, anything you want, donna Osteen. The next level was that when I decided to retire, I got recruited to do a gig as executive director to a youth program, and so the first thing I did was say is that mine? I don't know. Oh, we say, hey, donna, they handed me a couple of high school students. You know what I want to do with these high school students? I want to do to them what my school did with me. I want to volunteer them. And so what did we do? You brought them to the clothes closet and you made them work there. Did I make them?

Speaker 2: 15:42

really Well. You volunteered them and what happened.

Speaker 1: 15:45

They absolutely loved it. Not only did they absolutely love it, but I want to share a little bit. I want you to share a little bit about what their response, what their reaction and what their takeaway was being in a position to see what the needs of our community are and be able to provide services.

Speaker 2: 16:11

Well, I wasn't there as much as you were because at that point I was still over at the Bay Center location, but from what I saw they really when I was there they really did embrace it. They really embraced the volunteering and they really embraced seeing the need in the community and it kind of gave them a very different perspective about the need.

Speaker 2: 16:35

It wasn't just like, oh well, they don't really need it. They really saw the need and they embraced it. I mean, that's the best word I can come up with about the way they felt about it. They came in with their vision one way and they left with their vision completely different, and in the meantime they fell in love with Miss Jackie as well.

Speaker 1: 16:59

Who doesn't fall in love with Miss Jackie? Here's what I'm going to say, because this is a big, important statement you cannot heal what you don't feel. And so in a lot of circumstances, people think low income, they think subsidy, they think all sorts of things without really understanding what those words mean. And so when they came into the facility and saw who was holding their hands and showing an ID and filling out paperwork and was telling that they left work early, it's not that they don't have an income, it's that their income doesn't cover the cost of feeding a family of four Nobody understood, at least not on that level, right? Because it's not about me understanding exclusively. It's about the next generation understanding that the responsibilities that you have start now with opening your eyes to being aware. So let me ask you this question Does someone have to be Jewish to get services at Jewish Family and Community Services?

Speaker 2: 18:05

No, and that is a huge misconception. Just because Jewish is in our name, a lot of people think that we only serve the Jewish community. In fact, over 85% of our clientele is non-Jewish, so we serve the entire community. When I say entire, I mean the entire outlying community. We serve them. We will serve anybody who needs help, everything from mental health counseling.

Speaker 1: 18:37

You are the largest foster care and adoption provider in all of the surrounding counties. That is something else that people don't necessarily understand, that there's a bunch of services that come into play when you're working with the foster care system. So how do I know this? Donna said, hey, would you sit at a desk? Happily, whatever you need. Donna and I sat at a desk. And what did the desk sitting entail? It was for the purposes of visitation.

Speaker 1: 19:11

Children in foster care were being brought into Jewish Family Services by their social worker, and their birth parents were going to meet them for their visitation with the hopes of reunification. The goal in all of these instances is reunification, and so this again speaks to the greater good and the wraparound services the food pantry, the clothing closet, the foster care, reunification assistance program, which was then hey, there's a house that this family, with their health issues, cannot physically live in. Do you know anyone who might be willing to donate a kitchen? She says to me a kitchen. Well, donna, what do you need? We need the whole house redone. So just tell me what you need, donna.

Speaker 1: 20:05

And this is really the beauty of Donna, right? What we're looking for is that system of services we are. Every person who's in that area agency doesn't feel like a number. Everybody there feels like Donna is their friend and they can call Donna and she will help them myself included, by the way. So there's another thing that has become very passionate in my family's world and it's the holiday gift giving campaign. When I got here, I had a newborn and a just turned three year old by the first holiday season and I saw that you have the holiday gift giving campaign. Tell us a little bit about that.

Speaker 2: 20:49

So the holiday gift giving program is probably my biggest passion within JFCS. I love it. This is my seventh year doing it. This will be my seventh year doing it. I don't know that anybody else wants to do it, but I absolutely love doing it. It has grown I'm going to use your word exponentially, since I've been doing it. I started out with, I think, 600, then I went to 800, then I went to 1000, then I went to 1600, then I went to 2000 and then it was like 2200. So each year it has grown a lot and it, it, it. I mean I can't tell you how passionate I am about it. It is, you know.

Speaker 2: 21:42

All year we give to the entire community and the holiday gift giving program is the entire community's turn to give back to the kids of JFCS. That's my favorite way to talk about it. Last year we actually went down a little bit and we served a little over 2000. 2002, children were served and it's a good way to get involved. So basically what it is is it's the opportunity to sponsor a child, a foster child, a child that participates in our various programs that we have throughout the year.

Speaker 2: 22:25

Seniors we have Holocaust survivors there's 100 and I believe there's 104 Holocaust survivors first generation living, plus second generation as well that you could support. You could do collection, collections, drives, you could do there's. There's all kinds of ways to support it, but it's just a really fun program to get involved with and there's also a lot of volunteer opportunities as well. So I could talk about it for hours and hours and hours and I could still probably not explain to you the importance of it and how fun and rewarding it is during the holiday season to give back to this program.

Speaker 1: 23:06

So let me tell you what makes this special to my family. When I started I said it was newborn and three. And then by the next year my son was four and my daughter was one and she really didn't know what was going on. But my four-year-old at that point sort of understood that we would get a list. And every year I called Donna and I say can I get a list? That's the same ages and genders as my kids are now.

Speaker 1: 23:29

Why? Because I want them to feel what it feels like to buy things that they would love but for somebody else. I want them to understand that I'm buying this and I would love this, but I feel even better that it is going to someone who deserves this, who should have this, who I'm giving this to with my whole heart. And so every year now my daughter is eight and my son is 11. So the seven years that you've been doing this is the seven years that I've been doing this with you, and it is a privilege every year. And so every year I try to do that thing, that like, do you remember the Faberge commercial?

Speaker 1: 24:03

and you tell three friends and you tell three friends, that's how I feel since the year I started this, I try to get more people to do this with me and to pick out either the gift list, an adopt a child's list or adopt two child's lists or, for example, a large bulk corporate sponsorship. If you're a corporation, perhaps vol untold this is where we vol until vol untold. If you're a corporation and you know that you have x number of dollars that you would like to donate, guess what? There are a lot of children in the foster care system that are going to be asking for tablets this season to help them with schoolwork. On around black friday they go down to about 30 $35 a tablet.

Speaker 1: 24:50

So if you've got a bulk that you want to donate, if you've got gift cards that you want to sponsor, if you want to think about how it is that you can take on an age group, think of creative ways that you want to see your family, your community, your friends, your family get involved to give back, because there is nothing more beautiful to me than when a bunch of us go shopping together with our lists and our kids, knowing that we are putting all those in the back of the truck and driving them over to jfcs.

Speaker 1: 25:30

So I am going to challenge you. This is your vol untold. I want you to reach out to jfcsjaxorg is that the right, jfcsjaxorg? Totally guess that. And I want you to sponsor a wish list. I want you to find out about the max block food pantry, and one of my favorite times of year is the matching donation times of year, because what jfcs does is it tells you exactly what your hundred dollars will buy. Whether it is two shopping bags full of food for a family of four, or it's going to be 10 gifts for holocaust survivors, or it's going to be servicing the needs of foster children, you know exactly where that money is going, and those clients are vetted. So let me ask you, if I wanted to volunteer right now, how do I reach out?

Speaker 2: 26:25

you contact me at dostine, at jfcsjaxorg that's your first step.

Speaker 1: 26:33

The second question is how many people are currently being served at the max block food pantry?

Speaker 2: 26:41

on a daily basis yes on a daily basis. We average about between 35 and 50 per day. So we're open every Tuesday and Thursday from one to three.

Speaker 1: 26:52

So between that two hour time frame we can serve between 30 to 50 people, which is a lot that is a lot and it's grown, because when I first got there, I took over last September and we were averaging between 25 and 32 ish, so we've grown a lot wow, yeah, yeah, and the needs have grown a lot and the ability to give back has grown a lot, and I am grateful that you keep keeping me in the loop I'm trying thank you so much for your time, dana, and thank you for everything that you do for our community.

Speaker 2: 27:31

Thank, you for everything that you do for our community.

Speaker 1: 27:34

Oh, it's a privilege. It is such a pro na set. Vanish ma. If ever you get a call from dana ostin, remember you say yes, I will do it. What do you need from me now?

Speaker 1: 27:45

It's time for our honorable mention. Mentions, the yiddish word for a person of integrity and honor, with a sense of what is right and responsible. I'm giving it up for the following ladies who saw a need and filled it cecilia crystal, deba setzer, kimberley sasiski, ellen rosner and monique miller heard what women want and, more importantly, that they were unclear about what the agency provides, so they created an opportunity to bring people into the building. We just celebrated our second what women want event, with over 50 registrants and signups for tours, with the incomparable colleen rodriguez. If you are interested to find out more about what jfcs does, you can sponsor either a what women want event or you can contact wwwjfcsjaxorg.

Speaker 1: 28:43

If you know of someone who is the kind of mensch who should get an honorable mention, send me a note at schmoozewithsuesorg or drop me a line on instagram. That's going to do it for us today. Thanks for sticking around. Make sure to subscribe to schmooze with sus on youtube and follow me on instagram to get your daily dose of chutzpah. I'm sus you're well informed, smart ass who's not afraid to stand up and speak out. Because what's an envelope if not for pushing? Hey, stay inspired and inspiring.