Jewish Family Services of Vancouver Secures a Permanent Home
Jewish Family Services of Vancouver Secures a Permanent Home
Jewish Family Services of Vancouver Secures a Permanent Home
Vancouver, December 13th, 2023 – Jewish Family Services (JFS) of Vancouver today announced the purchase of a commercial building at 2929 Commercial Drive to serve as its Vancouver headquarters and services hub.
“After renovations are completed, the 20,000-square-foot building will offer the necessary space and infrastructure for our social service offerings,” said Tanja Demajo, JFS’s Chief Executive Officer. “Moreover, with ownership, we will finally have a sense of stability after 87 years of
frequent moves from one leased premise to another.”
The building, to be named in honour of the Roadburg family, will replace two leased current Vancouver locations: JFS’s head office at 2285 Clark Drive and the JFS Kitchen at 54 East 3rd Ave. The new location, just three blocks from the Commercial-Broadway Skytrain station provides ready access to public transit, which is essential for most JFS clients.
The purchase and a portion of the planned renovations have been financed by generous
donations from the following five Vancouver philanthropies:
Ronald S. Roadburg Foundation
The Al Roadburg Foundation
Harvey and Jody Dales
The Diamond Foundation
The Ben and Esther Dayson Charitable Foundation
“We are pleased to support the development of the new facility for Jewish Family Services of Vancouver to carry the Roadburg family name,” said Stephen Gaerber, a Director of the Ronald S. Roadburg Foundation and past Board Chair of Jewish Family Services. “This provides a long-term solution for JFS, locating JFS’ critical services and administration in a central location near transit and helping ensure more people can get access.”
Services to be offered from the new location will include case management, housing advocacy, clinical counselling, meals from a commercial kosher-certified pareve kitchen, care for Holocaust survivors and a Ukrainian settlement program.
The renovation plans call for, among other things, a multipurpose room that can act as a dining area for meals, event space for programming, and drop-in space for the community. The building will also have a play area for young children, meeting rooms, wheelchair-accessible washrooms, a Foodbank warehouse, and a truck loading dock.
For more information, contact:
Tanja Demajo
Chief Executive Officer
Jewish Family Services
About JFS
Guided by the wisdom and values of our Jewish tradition, JFS delivers a continuum of social services to individuals and families of all ages and stages of life, supporting them to live healthy and productive lives. Since 1936, the organization has reduced the impacts of poverty for Vancouver’s most vulnerable citizens through advocacy, care and emergency support.
