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The breakneck rate at which weight-loss drugs such as Ozempic, Wegovy, Mounjaro, and the like infiltrated our media, our vernacular, and our everyday lives was astonishing. 

As always, here at Response for Teens, we want to provide caregivers and their young people with as much information as possible to make informed and meaningful decisions. So, before we go down all those conversational paths and more, we should first know what we’re talking about. Let’s cover the basics.

Grieving the loss of a close loved one is a profound and overwhelming experience. For young adults in their 20s and 30s, this journey can be especially disorienting.

It’s probably no surprise that jobseekers face emotional challenges while looking for that next position.

“I think a lot of it is the employment marketplace today. People feel qualified and apply to positions, get interviews, maybe second interviews, but never hear from anyone again,” said JVS Career Counselor Sandra Saltzman. “That is a frustration."

JCFS Chicago board members, employees and community partners gathered at the Abe & Ida Cooper Center in West Rogers Park on September 9 for the 2024 JCFS Annual Meeting. Some highlights of the evening include:

When Larry’s wife Ardis died in late 2022, people suggested he try grief support...

“What I really appreciate about this group is that I get some insights and I can talk about my loss in a way that other people in the room understand,” Larry said

Death is a normal part of life. We all face it ourselves, and we all lose people about whom we care. But it is helpful to know how it affects us, as well as the helpful tools Jewish tradition in its wisdom has developed to guide us through these tough times.

In honor of National Recovery Month, we are sharing words that are both familiar and precious to those involved in a 12-Step recovery program.

In grief work, we often devote considerable time to discussing death, the loss of a beloved family member or a dear friend. But what about non-death losses? How does one grieve something that is undefined and intangible?

When a Central African Republic family stepped off the plane at O’Hare Airport for the first time last year, Gail Nusekabel was there to greet them. She had never met this family of four before, but she was ready to help them as they embarked on a new life in the U.S.

Along with other members of her synagogue, Sukkat Shalom, Gail volunteers as a JCFS Chicago HIAS Immigration & Citizenship mentor, helping refugee families get acclimated to living in a new country.

For two weeks in May, residents of the adult living homes supported by JCFS Chicago monitored how much they were moving as they participated in Put a Step in Your Spring, a new exercise project conceived by nurse Janis Goodman to teach the residents about exercise and healthy lifestyles.