Today we’d like to introduce you to Sarah Franco. Them and their team share their story with us below:
Sarah Franco is the founding CEO of JAFCO, Jewish Adoption, and Family Care Options. JAFCO was created three decades ago to fill an unmet child welfare need in the Jewish community and JAFCO proudly serves any child or family in need. Over the past 28 years JAFCO has grown from a one-person grassroots foster care, adoption, and family preservation agency with an annual budget of $50,000 to a major child welfare agency with a staff of 200 employees and an annual budget of $12m providing an entire continuum of quality child welfare services to abused and neglected children and their families and also children with developmental disabilities and those traumatized by the Parkland school shooting.
In 2002, JAFCO opened the Children’s Village providing emergency shelter or group home placement for children from birth to age 23. In 2014, JAFCO opened the Children’s Ability Center providing intensive support services and respite care to families who are raising a child with a developmental disability, and also expanded their family preservation services to Philadelphia in the FamilyMatters office. In 2019, JAFCO opened Eagles’ Haven, a wellness and support center for the MSD community affected by the tragic shooting in Parkland.
Sarah holds a master’s degree from Nova University in Ft. Lauderdale, Florida, and a bachelor’s degree from York University in Toronto Canada.
Can you talk to us a bit about the challenges and lessons you’ve learned along the way? Looking back would you say it’s been easy or smooth in retrospect?
Sarah is a mother and grandmother and is a second-generation Holocaust Survivor. She was born in Israel and has lived in New York and Toronto in addition to South Florida. Sarah has dedicated her entire career to serving abused and neglected children in her local community and feels that the words of Anne Frank best describe the meaning of life when she said, “how wonderful it is, that one need not wait a single moment, before starting to improve the world”.
As you know, we’re big fans of you and your work. For our readers who might not be as familiar what can you tell them about what you do?
The founding CEO of JAFCO, Jewish Adoption, and Family Care Options.
JAFCO’s mission is to provide care, safety, and support to children and their families within the Jewish community and beyond who are impacted by abuse, neglect, trauma, or developmental disabilities…giving every child a place to belong.
JAFCO provides a full continuum of high-quality services including foster care, adoption, family preservation, mentoring, independent living, and developmental disability programs. The JAFCO Children’s Village, consisting of an Emergency Shelter and six Group Homes, is one of the most unique and innovative programs in the nation. The JAFCO Children’s Ability Center supports families raising children with developmental disabilities by providing family enrichment, resources, and respite care all within one state-of-the-art center. JAFCO also is providing foster care, adoption, family preservation, and support services to families raising a child with a developmental disability in our Philadelphia office.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.jafco.org/
- Instagram: jafco_org
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/jafco1
- Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC7H77Xt_s781m7WQAzzI0VQ
Image Credits
JAFCO
