Bronx JCC is a lifeline to the vulnerable and needy in the Bronx, which has the highest concentration of poverty in New York City. Our services provide a spectrum of life-saving programs and services to the population in the Bronx with the goal of promoting independence, stability and well-being. Additionally, we ensure the older population in the Bronx is able to age gracefully and peacefully in their communities. As an organization we are wholly and passionately committed to aiding and strengthening our clients to confront their crises and reach stability.  

On a yearly basis, the Bronx Jewish Community Council has:

Assisted more than 10,000 individuals
Provided 12,000 food packages through our Food Pantry
Delivered 1,600 food packages to home-bound seniors
Distributed 470 food vouchers
Provided 3,500 transportation trips for seniors
Involved 2,900 caring volunteers
Helped 800 individuals enroll in food stamps
Helped 160 individuals with legal counseling
Provided over $55,000 in emergency cash relief

At the Bronx Jewish Community Council, we aim to offer the right services and support to our clients in the Bronx. Our social work staff works tirelessly to help Bronx residents to their best of their abilities by offering services that will help them remain independent and enhance their day to day lives. The services we offer include but are not limited to:

Enrollment and renewal of:

• SCRIE/DRIE
• Food Stamps
• Medicare/Medicaid
• Referral to legal services, domestic violence assistance, Meals on Wheels, etc.
• Social Security and SSI
• Wills, Healthcare proxy, power of attorney, pre-needs burial
• Eviction prevention
• Emergency assistance

If you have any questions about any of the services we offer or have any specific questions please contact us.

For more information please call Judy Uman at 718-652-5500

BJCC’s senior transportation program, funded through the Department for the Aging, provides services for seniors primarily in Community Board 11. This program brings seniors to doctor’s appointments, local senior centers, shopping and other neighborhood activities. BJCC’s transportation program provides 3,600 one-way trips each year and serves nearly 100 local residents each month.

Holland Ave Office:

Our Holland Avenue Office, located at 2157 Holland Ave, houses our Food Pantry where our social work staff interviews each participant to make certain they are receiving all appropriate benefits and entitlements. Clients from all over the borough can receive food vouchers and assistance, eviction and rent assistance as well as referral to free legal services. For any questions please call (718) 828-1114.

Staff:

Sandi Zelniker, Social Work Supervisor
David Edelstein, Program Director, Food Pantry and Community Services
Keti Kirka, Social Worker 
Raisa Yakobson, Case Worker

Mosholu Bainbridge Community Service Center:

Co-located at our West Bronx Housing and Neighborhood Resource Center (220 E 204th Street) this site is staffed by, Marisol Guzman, our resident social worker she assists all clients with any social service needs they may have. 

The Bronx Jewish Community Council operates the largest food pantry in the East Bronx. Located at our Holland Avenue site in Pelham Parkway, the Food Pantry distributes over 1200 food packages a month. The package is designed to include three meals a day for three days for each member of the household. We are proud to say that no person who comes to our door is turned away. The BJCC Food Pantry receives its food from the Food Bank for New York City, The Metropolitan Council on Jewish Poverty, UJA-Federation of Westchester – Families Feeding Families program, and food drives from various organizations in the Bronx and Westchester. Our Director of Volunteers often assists with these food collections as well as organizes for groups that make sandwiches for the hungry. Interested in volunteering? Please contact Niti Minkove.

Weekly food deliveries are sorted into packages that typically include a box of pasta and sauce, cans of vegetables, cans of fruit and other goods when available. During Passover or food pantry provides Kosher for Passover to help those in the Bronx who want to observe the holiday.

BJCC supplements the assistance available through our Food Pantry by offering emergency Food Vouchers to assure we can assist clients at all times. Food Vouchers are redeemable at local supermarkets, which enable their recipients to purchase fresh food of their choice. A diabetic person can purchase the fruits and vegetables he or she may depend on. A person in need can purchase the kosher chicken he or she needs to make a Sabbath meal. Food Vouchers are also issued when Pantry stocks are so depleted that a person would not be able to receive an adequate Pantry Bag. 

For more information regarding our Food Pantry or Food Voucher program please visit the Holland Avenue Office located at 2157 Holland Avenue, Bronx, NY 10462. (Telephone: 718-792-4744)

The Geriatric Mental Health Initiative is funded by the Department for Health and Mental Hygiene and has been active since 2009. Currently, we screen seniors anywhere in Bronx for depression, drugs and alcohol. To qualify for a free screening you must be 55 or older. We can offer individual counseling in the seniors’ home or at any one of our offices.

Additionally, we partner with Montefiore Geriatric Psychiatry if the client is in need of a psychiatric evaluation. This doctor will work with your primary care physician to formulate a plan. We also perform some case management and some phone call management.

For more information on our Geriatric Mental Health Initiative please contact Gary Morse.

The Bronx Jewish Community Council operates two Naturally Occurring Retirement Community programs.  A NORC is a community that was not originally built for seniors, but over time has become a home to a significant proportion of older residents. In response to this community aging in place, the NORC program is an innovative model that coordinates a broad range of social and health care services to support senior residents. BJCC is the parent organization for the Amalgamated Park Reservoir and Pelham Parkway NORC supportive services programs. We are also affiliated with the Parkchester Enhancement Program (PEP for Seniors).

The AmPark NORC is located in Amalgamated Houses, the first cooperative housing development in the United States established in 1927. The co-op was created based on the ideals of neighbor helping neighbor while addressing recreational, social and health needs of all residents. Established in 1995, AmPArk NORC is a multi-ethnic, multi-cultural community. We also have a significant Holocaust Survivor population.

The AmPark NORC provides enhanced services to its seniors through linkages that is has fostered in the community. These services include medical and nursing services, geriatric care and occupational therapy. At AmPark, we focus on the community’s ongoing and changing needs. Sixty percent of NORC households have at least one elderly resident and many are low income. Our social service efforts focus on helping maintain the resident’s optimum health status.

NORC STAFF:

Betty Butler, MSW – Program Director
Shelley Stieglitz, NORC Nurse
Lauren Schwartz, Case Manager
Debra Lomurno, Admin Assistant

Pelham Parkway Houses Naturally Occurring Retirement Community (NORC) Supportive Service Program is committed to the enhanced quality of life and independence of its diverse community residents. We are a collaborative partnership, consisting of health and social service providers, New York City Housing Authority (NYCHA), and the residents of Pelham Houses, working together to support aging with vitality of integrity.

The Pelham Parkway NORC serves mostly a Spanish speaking population, approximately 90% of residents speak Spanish and only half are bilingual. The Pelham Parkway NORC provides enhanced services to its seniors including services such as assisting seniors to apply for Medicaid, food stamps, NYCHA affidavits. Once a month a food stamps specialist comes to the NORC to assist and expedite applications. Moreover, there is a nurse who comes to the NORC twice a week to provide medical and geriatric services. The main focus of the NORC is to provide advocacy work for our seniors – we currently have 350 active cases and continually work to provide the seniors with the best services we can.

NORC STAFF:

Jacqueline Nunez, Program Director
Luisa Carabello, Social Worker
Stephanie Beneitz, Case Manager

“We had a client who is the 48 year old son of a 77 year old and 75 year old. They had been living in a park for two weeks and prior to that time, they had been living in a basement. He was born in Germany and left with his parents to Argentina in 1939. He was married in Argentina. The family lived in Israel for a period of time before arriving in the US in 2000, they are undocumented. Therefore, they are not able to obtain any benefits/entitlements. They absolutely refuse to go back to Israel. His father has had two strokes and a history of seizures, and his mother is in a wheelchair. She has arthritis and a pacemaker. 

Our social workers met with him and referred the family to Project Ore and provided them with a food voucher. We also agreed to pay $120 for their storage unit, as they were late with their payment. However, the Project Ore told the family there was nothing they could do. Immediately, our social worker contacted the Director of the Bronxworks Homeless Outreach Team. 

As soon as our social worker told him about the “family who was homeless living in a park across the street from Lehman College”, he knew who she was talking about. He first met the family two summers ago when they began the intake process with his program and were offered a room in Queens, while arrangements were being made for a family shelter. The family refused to go to the apartment or the family shelter because they could not take their dog. The director of the program did not think that the family would accept their services based on past experience. The family was referred to the Bronxworks Homeless Outreach Team, and the worker went out to assess. He contacted our social worker following the assessment, and agreed that our concerns about the family were founded, given the parents age, medical conditions and extreme heat.

 The Bonxworks worker informed us that he would send a team out to see the family three times a day and would hopefully build their trust. They visited the family in the park and prescribed medicine for the parents. He also worked with the Mayors Alliance NYC Animals to obtain the family’s dog “reasonable accommodation,” as their dog was preventing the family from entering a shelter. The family (along with the dog) was moved to a “stabilization residence” where there is one bedroom, a kitchen and a bathroom. In addition, the family also received food vouchers and food from our food pantry. Through our collaboration and referral to other agencies, we were able to assist in getting this family out of the park and getting them the shelter they so desperately needed."