Join us in our mission to extend hope, dignity, and compassion.
Kindness Initiative will be closed Friday September 11 in observance of Rosh Hashanah. Shana Tova! , Join us in our mission to extend hope dignity and compassion. , If this is an emergency please call 911. For all non-emergency inquires please call (858) 216 - 1666.

Kindness Initiative and Jewish Family Service of San Diego Deepen Collaboration to Better Support Jewish Households in need.

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Kindness Initiative (KI) and Jewish Family Service of San Diego (JFS) are deepening a coordinated effort to better serve Jewish individuals and families in need across the community while remaining fully independent organizations.

Effective June 1, 2026, KI will co-locate its Member Services case management division at the Joan & Irwin Jacobs Campus in Kearny Mesa.

“For people facing a critical life challenge, navigating multiple systems can be overwhelming,” said Dana Toppel, CEO of JFS. “This collaboration is about enhancing clarity and coordination so individuals and families can access support more seamlessly.”

“Kindness Initiative and Jewish Family Service each play important and complementary roles in the community,” said Selwyn Isakow, Chairman of the Board of KI. “By working more closely in a shared environment, we can better coordinate our efforts, leverage our respective strengths, optimize our resources, and most importantly, improve the impact on those we serve.”

For further information contact:

Dana Toppel

CEO, Jewish Family Service

or

Selwyn Isakow

Board Chair, Kindness Initiative

Email: [email protected]

Call: (858) 458-1122

Share Now:

Personal Dignity at Kindness Initiative

At Kindness Initiative, personal dignity means recognizing and reinforcing the inherent worth, individuality, and potential of every person we serve. Poverty, crisis, homelessness, or dependence on others can gradually erode confidence, independence, and a person’s belief in their own ability to move forward. We therefore seek not merely to provide assistance, but to restore a sense of agency, self-respect, hope, and control. Members and Clients are treated as individuals with strengths, preferences, choices, and aspirations not as problems to be solved or recipients of charity. Through respectful relationships, personalized support, meaningful choice, and opportunities to participate in their own path forward, we strive to ensure that every interaction communicates: you matter, your voice matters, you are capable, and your circumstances do not define your worth. Ultimately, dignity is restored when a person begins to see themselves not through the lens of what they lack or what has happened to them, but with renewed confidence in who they are and what they can become.

At Kindness Initiative, restoring personal dignity is not only an important outcome in itself; it is also an essential step toward rebuilding the confidence, agency, and sense of possibility that enable Members to actively participate in the tasks and decisions necessary to achieve their individually defined and aspirational goals.

Terms & Conditions

Kindness Initiative Member Etiquette Policy Statement

Just as we expect our staff, volunteers, and service provider organizations to abide by basic civil interpersonal behavior consistent with Jewish values, we expect our Members to:

  • Be courteous, polite, and respectful to all service provider staff and volunteers.
  • Assist yourself wherever possible in attaining emergency and self-sufficiency plans.
  • Offer warm and sincere greeting; be prompt in responding to calls, e-mails, or correspondence; and be on time for all appointments.
  • Try not to become frustrated with disappointing performance of service providers. You have an opportunity to reflect your concerns in the website post-event survey.
  • Always exhibit the highest levels of personal hygiene.
  • Take responsibility for your own safety.
  • Don't talk about others in a negative or hurtful way (Lashon Hara).
  • Be kind to others. You are a Member of the Kindness Initiative.

Not adhering to any of the above repeatedly may result in termination of membership privileges.

Other Jewish Values KINDNESS INITIATIVE Encourages Include:

  • Taking responsibility to participate actively in the local Jewish community, both as an expression of good citizenship and as a model for others.
  • Continuing to expand your Jewish understanding and knowledge.
  • Always acting ethically.
  • Supporting the unique relationship between Israel and the Jewish Diaspora.
  • Being an exemplary ambassador for yourself, your family, and the Jewish people through your actions.