Are We Awake to the Needs Around Us? My Guest: Colleen Rodriguez, CEO of LJD Jewish Family & Community Services

June 01, 2026

Episode Transcript

A rent increase doesn’t sound like a siren, but it can be the first crack that breaks a family’s whole scaffolding. Today we sit with that uncomfortable truth and follow it where it leads: to grocery checkout lines, week-to-week hotel rooms, kids trying to hide the same outfit, and seniors on fixed incomes forced to choose between food and medication.

I’m joined by returning guest Colleen Rodriguez, CEO of LJD Jewish Family and Community Services (JFCS) in Northeast Florida. Colleen walks us through what she’s seeing right now in Jacksonville and beyond: the “invisible middle” of ALICE families who are employed but one emergency away from free fall, the rapid growth of homelessness among parents with young children and seniors, and how food insecurity changes depending on whether someone has a kitchen, a microwave, or nothing at all. We even get practical about what actually helps at a food pantry and how to get involved at www.jfcsjax.org including volunteer opportunities and teen foster care birthday lunches.

We also connect the dots between affordable housing, out-of-state landlords, and eviction diversion programs that can keep kids in the same school and families in the same home. Then we go deeper into the mental health impact of financial stress and the shame that keeps people from asking for help, plus small, discreet ways communities can support children through schools. Finally, Colleen explains how wraparound services work, and why unrestricted giving to one of the most respected agencies in our community can provide immediate assistance that leads to generational impact.

If today's conversation inspires you, I encourage you to learn more about JFCS, volunteer, advocate, or make a donation. Every dollar helps provide food, counseling, emergency assistance, foster care support, senior services, and life-changing programs throughout Northeast Florida.

Donate today at:

The LJD Jewish Family & Community Services Donation Page

Learn more about their work:

JFCS Jacksonville Official Website

The work of The LJD Jewish Family & Community Services isn't about solving a single problem. It's about strengthening the foundation that allows people to build stable, healthy, and hopeful lives.

Since 1917, JFCS has quietly become one of Northeast Florida's most important safety nets, serving children, families, seniors, veterans, foster youth, Holocaust survivors, and individuals facing food insecurity, housing instability, mental health challenges, and financial hardship. Their mission is simple but profound: helping people help themselves. Whether it's keeping a family housed through eviction diversion, stocking pantry shelves for neighbors experiencing hunger, supporting foster children as they transition into adulthood, providing counseling during life's darkest moments, or educating future generations through Holocaust education and intolerance prevention programs, JFCS meets people where they are and helps them move forward with dignity.

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Society & Culture

See full episode transcriptTranscript is autogenerated by AI

Rising Costs And Quiet Crisis

SPEAKER_01 0:00

Lately I find myself paying attention to things that have changed, but not really. Grocery and gas prices increases, and the mom calculating what goes back on the shelf at checkout. The amount of for rent signs and the average cost of rentals and the term affordable housing becoming a phrase instead of a reality. Housing used to feel like a stepping stone, but for many people it can feel like quicksand when homes become commodities before they remain communities. For the family one car repair away from disaster, for the senior deciding whether medication or food wins this month, for the working family doing everything right and somehow still falling behind. For stories people tell quietly because they're embarrassed, because something feels different. And I worry. I worry about landlords who see spreadsheets but never see people. I worry about food insecurity for those without transportation. And because financial stress doesn't stay inside your wallet, I worry about mental health. It follows you into your marriage, your parenting, your sleep, your self-worth. And perhaps what concerns me most is how easy it is to believe these issues belong to someone else. Because I have also learned over the years crisis doesn't always arrive with sirens. Sometimes it arrives as a rent increase, a flat tire, a diagnosis, a lost job, a divorce, a thousand dollar emergency that quietly changes everything. In January of 2023, the very first guest I ever had on this podcast was Colleen Rodriguez. We asked, you might be woke, but are you awake? Because knowing statistics and reposting headlines is different from knowing where your nearest food pantry is or where help lives. When we came back together in 2024 and asked, how can we provide the base of the pyramid with dignity? We talked about Maslow's hierarchy and the uncomfortable reality that food, shelter, and security are still out of reach for too many people. So here we are again, different year, different world, same questions, maybe bigger questions. And that's what we're going to tackle today. Hi, I'm Suze, bringing you a dose of culture, values, and global citizenship with just enough chutzba to ask the questions others may avoid. Today's

Meet Colleen Rodriguez And JFCS

SPEAKER_01 2:07

guest isn't just returning to Shmooz with Suze. In many ways, she's returning to where this podcast began. Colleen Rodriguez serves as CEO of the LJD Jewish Family and Community Services, an organization that has strengthened Northeast Florida since 1917 through mental health services, food assistance, child welfare, foster care and adoption support, counseling, homelessness prevention, Jewish community services, and programs designed to help people help themselves. Under Colleen's leadership, the organization has grown significantly in both scale and reach. But titles only tell part of the story because Colleen is one of those people who sits in the uncomfortable spaces most of us avoid. The places where people are scared, overwhelmed, grieving, hungry, uncertain, or trying to hold life together with duct tape and hope. She has spent decades asking, not whose problem is this, but instead, how do we help? Colleen, welcome back. Thanks for having me. Thanks for being here. Since our first conversation, JFCS has expanded support around eviction, diversion, and housing stabilization efforts for working families facing housing crisis, increased food assistance through the Max Block Food Pantry, and tailored support for people experiencing different forms of housing instability. That's correct. Mental health services and counseling resources aimed at reducing stigma and increasing access. Child welfare, family support systems, foster care, and prevention programs designed to intervene before crisis escalates. The need hasn't disappeared, but the complexity seems to have increased. So uh you were my first guest ever. Looking back at those conversations, what concerns did you have then that you still have today?

SPEAKER_00 3:54

It's interesting. As I was listening to you talk, I feel like I have the same concerns I had back then. Now maybe they've changed area as to the areas that we're working in, but we're seeing the same type of need, and in some ways we're seeing bigger need. Our food pantry numbers are not going down, they're going up. We had the need to expand into Baker County. We now have a food pantry there. Our child welfare services, the number of kids are going up, and we expanded into Baker, Bradford, Union, and Alatua. And so, you know, we've added eviction diversion, like you mentioned. So maybe we're the good news is that people are becoming aware, the funding is becoming available, not to the extent that it needs to, but we have seen some growth in that area, some awareness in that area. And we're able to tailor some programs like our eviction diversion around a specific group of people. But I don't think the need, I don't not say I don't think. I know the need is not going down. It's going up.

The Invisible Middle And ALICE Families

SPEAKER_01 4:58

So I want to talk a little bit about the invisible middle. We think about food insecurity and like you said, the eviction-diversion program. A lot of people consider homelessness as people sleeping on sidewalks. Who are really the people that are struggling today?

SPEAKER_00 5:16

It really is the middle. So everyone has a vision of what does a person look like who's going to be evicted or is struggling with food or struggling to buy groceries or prescriptions. We all have a vision of who that person looks like. And if you were to come to our food pantry or work with our financial assistance case managers, they look a lot like us. So it's usually, I know there is that small population that chronically is dependent, but that is a very small population. And I probably said that to you when I first met you. It is the most the majority of the people who are coming for need, it's that one off. We had a dual income, but unfortunately one of our children got sick and I had to stop working, and this bill came and we weren't ready for it. My car, I need my car to get to work. If I can get my car fixed, I can get to work, I'll never need services again. It's that one off. My elderly mom had to move into the home, and that is we've had extra expenses because of her. It's those types of things that we are hearing. It is not really the, oh, I just don't want to work, I don't want to pay my bills. That's that's a very small percentage.

SPEAKER_01 6:21

I remember three decades ago now when I used to work in homeless services in New York City, there was this m idea that it would be we don't want to give money because they'll use it on drugs. Right. But now we're seeing that the people coming in for assistance are what's coined as ALIS, asset limited, income-constrained employed. They're families with jobs, education, and a history of stability that suddenly need assistance. So how has the definition of vulnerability changed?

Seniors And Families Facing Homelessness

SPEAKER_00 6:51

Well, the two fastest growing homeless populations that we're seeing are parents with young children and seniors. So let's go to the seniors, let's look at our seniors. They're on fixed income, many of them worked their entire life, they had a plan or retirement plan, they're pretend potentially still living in the home, probably their only asset, and then everything has gone up. And when you're on a fixed income, the income isn't changing, but the expenses are. We're seeing that at the gas pump, we're seeing that at the grocery store. And so we are seeing them move to and they're homeless can be lots of different. Yes, there's those sleeping on the streets, then there's those that we call living on couches, like couch surfing. They're going from family member to family member. We have a lot of people still living in hotels, so they're going week to week. We talked about this three years ago. We did. Parents are are smart, they'll they'll find a hotel in a good school district, and so their kids are going to school. That's where they're getting fed. That's why we expect to see spikes in our food pantry around this holiday breaks and summer. Yeah. Because kids eat at school. There are some the food programs, but it's not enough. Um it's not it's not going to feed the rest of the family. And so we're st seeing all those same things happening now, um, just on a larger scale.

SPEAKER_01 8:03

So it surprised people, I think, when we described who shows up at the food pantries. Exactly what you were sharing is that this misconception of the people that are standing on street corners with the signs, they're not showing up at the pantries as often as families with young children who have this instability in whether it's the housing and if you're in a hotel, do you have maybe a mini fridge and you don't necessarily have cooking available to you? So going back to the food pantries, what has changed in the types of needs, the types of what you're providing, what can people donate, and what are the reasons for the distinctions between different donation facts?

Food Pantry Realities And Smart Donations

SPEAKER_00 8:42

So we really have three different types of people who will come, not three types, but three different types of need when they come to our food pantry. The first is I'm truly homeless, I'm living in the woods, I need pop-top cans, I need something I can cook over the fire, I need, you know, bread and peanut butter and and things like that that they can use and and and eat kind of on the run or walking around. With the next group we have is are those that are in the hotels or that they're couch serving, and they may have the ability to get to a microwave, but they're not really gonna have a full kitchen. So it's what can we make quickly in a microwave type setting? And then the third population are those that are living in their homes, they have access to a kitchen, and they're just needing some extra assistance. So any type of donation works. It can be the pop-top cans. I know they're more expensive. We really look for protein. Peanut butter and jelly is huge. Think about meals, pastas, rice, things that a a person could make for a family. Yeah. And then I would tell you don't forget the pets. Many of them have pets, they have animals, they're part of the family, just like we think of our animals. And so donations for for cats and dogs as well is important.

SPEAKER_01 9:54

I'm so glad you shared that with me because I would not have thought of that until you said it. I would think that that would go to a pet shelter specifically, but you're correct. There that same, and you know, my son said this to me the other day. We were passing by, and he said, That person over there, why would they have a dog? And he answered his own question. He said, Because I would also be lonely and I would want someone that I could have to hug and who would love me unconditionally. And it was an interesting dynamic because when you think of those families in transition, you wouldn't necessarily consider it the pet, but that pet might be the longest relationship that a child has had.

SPEAKER_00 10:32

There's a lot of judgment when people see people with pets, it's security on the streets when you're sleeping. It may be the only relationship they have. And unfortunately, and I understand why, there aren't any shelters that will take pets. And so when someone who is homeless is offered a bed, they often won't take it if they're if they're not going to have their pet.

SPEAKER_01 10:52

I appreciate you breaking that stigma because it is a judgmental environment.

Affordable Housing And Eviction Diversion

SPEAKER_01 10:57

Here's what's always surprising to me. I keep reading week after week, Jacksonville is one of the fastest growing cities in the country. It's exciting. It sounds like there's a whole lot of development that's happening over here, and we talk about housing instability and the cost of housing. Obviously, we know that renting versus buying is, you know, not necessarily what people should strive towards. But when you look at the landscape, because that's what kept you up at night when we first met, affordable housing. When you read in the newspaper or you see all these plugs for affordable housing, does that make you feel more comfortable? Do you feel like, oh, we're solving that need?

SPEAKER_00 11:38

I don't know if we'll ever solve that need because the need is greater than the funding and the opportunities. But I I I'm excited, I'm I'm encouraged, excited might not be the right word, but I am encouraged that we're paying attention to it. We're at least talking about it, we're acknowledging it. The challenges are a little different now, and that so many of our properties in Jacksonville, and probably across the country, is probably not unique to our city, but I can only speak about our city. The properties aren't owned by someone who lives in Jacksonville. They're owned by a management company or a company, a landlord out of state that maybe has never even seen the property. And so our program, like eviction diversion and our financial assistance programs, very often when we're trying to work with a landlord, we don't even know where they are, who they are. And so, do they have an incentive and a buy-in to even want to work with us? When our eviction diversion program first started, there was a lot of buy-in. So how it works really quickly is if you go into the portal to file an eviction, and there's thousands that are done every month in Jacksonville, a stop sign kind of pops up and says, if you want to work with this tenant, if this has been a good standing tenant, then they'll shift you over to Jewish Family. And the same for the tenant. And then we're able to intervene and hopefully make that tenant whole. And it is those one-offs. They're working, they can pay next month, they got behind because of an emergency, they've been a good tenant, and we can come in, make everyone whole, and move forward. And probably never, as we've as we've looked at the numbers, over 80% of them six months down the road are in the same house, in good standing, everything is stable. And that means the children are stable in their schools and the adults are stable in their home. And so it's successful, it's working. We're not saying that's not still working, but more and more as we reach out to the landlords and we see these evictions being filed, they're not as interested.

SPEAKER_01 13:26

And when we research, they're not even here. Tell me a little bit about the difference. And I told you I wouldn't ask you statistics or numbers, but I'm gonna ask a little bit about what it costs to re-home a person versus putting a stop to a potential eviction. Um, when we think about what it costs to get into a home, you have to pay security, first month, last month's rent, and every month's rent and pet deposit, and now they're adding even more insurances. And from the landlord side, yes, I can understand that taxes have gone up, insurance have gone up. But for the resident, what's the difference between keeping them in a home versus having to re-home? Right.

SPEAKER_00 14:10

Well, it used to be what, three times the amount of money to get someone off the streets. I would argue now that number is only going up. And then you also not think of don't only think about the money, think about every time a child changes school, the statistics show that they fall six months behind. Wow. So I mean that's gonna impact school graduation rates, that impacts children's involvement and engagement as parents are moving and having to get different jobs. We're talking about transportation issues. It's a slippery slope. So it's it's not only the financial expense, it's the emotional expense, it's the educational expense.

SPEAKER_01 14:45

It's it's I think people only think about the packing up of boxes or the sign on the door, but that's just scratching the surface of what the long-term concern actually leads to, which is my next question in terms of mental health.

Financial Stress And Kids Mental Health

SPEAKER_01 14:59

Um and I touched on this in my monologue about how why, how and why I worry about this is that growing up to two immigrant parents who were scraping pennies together, right? Um I viscerally felt when my parents were going through a financial hard time, even if they tried to hide it from me. Right. I remember standing outside the door of the kitchen and eavesdropping, and I remember the one year that I came in and I said, I don't really want to go to camp. And my parents said, But you have to go to camp. And I said, No, I don't really want to go to camp. They didn't understand that I had heard them talk about financial struggles, and so I was gonna give up something so they didn't have to worry about that payment. I did not realize that I was going to camp so that I could be somewhere supervised so they could work two jobs. Right. Tell me a little bit about what that's translating to in mental health services.

SPEAKER_00 15:54

So if you're in a food pantry as a child, you know it. If you're getting the second cloth secondary clothes, or if you're having to go to a clothing closet and try things on in a in a little room, you know it. Yeah. If your mom is making the same meal every day, or you're having to skip a meal, or you're sick, but you're still having to go to school and you're pumped up on Tylenol, and your mom says you gotta fake it and get to school so that you can have your breakfast and lunch there, you know it. So that causes, even if they're little, that there's some anxiety in that. There's some fear in that. The parents' anxiety, yes, we all try to hide our anxiety and we go in our room, but kids feel that. There's a tension in the air, there's a tension in the room. Kids can be mean and cruel, and they know if you've worn the same outfit a couple days a week, they know if it's not clean. They know, you know, a lot of schools have school uniforms, and when you grow, I don't know if I all kids are just they sprout up. Yeah. And so the clothes that you start the year with are not the clothes you finish. But if it's the only set that your parents can buy, it is the only pair that you're wearing. And so they may not fit anymore, and the shoes may not fit anymore. We find out a lot in our school-based programs that children don't come to school because of that. They're embarrassed. Their parents would only do laundry once a month. And so their clothes start to smell and have stains. If their shoes don't fit anymore, they cut the toes out of them. So that's happening, that's real. And so, would you go to school? I I wouldn't go to school. And so there's a feeling of self-worth, right? Because we we've labeled the right clothes and the right car and the right home, right? We all have that judgment of where you live and what you look like and and what you have on. That defines you in our society in a lot of ways. And so self-worth is wrapped up in that. So we see a lot of depression and anxiety and worry about their families because they hear their parents and they see distress, and that impacts health as well.

SPEAKER_01 17:46

I am starting to tear up a little bit because I'm having flashbacks, but also you're deeply impacting the way I think about that base of the pyramid, right? We we give a lot of credit to people who are providing the food and the housing and the mental health services, but that second layer of how we can prevent the rate of recidivism, what are the chances that a child who has never had stability is going to feel like they're independently capable of being stable? Are we now finding that kids are carrying stress differently than maybe five years ago?

SPEAKER_00 18:23

I don't know if they're carrying it different, or is it just we're more aware? We're paying attention. The schools are really paying attention, religious organizations are really paying attention. I think we have done a good job about talking about mental health and saying it's everywhere. We all experience it. We need to pay attention to each other, we need to pay attention to each to our children and intervene. I think we are better at that, but getting to the root cause of it and getting children to admit that, that's those are embarrassing things to say. That I've had rice the last four nights, that I'm wearing the same clothes, that I can't go on the field trips. You know, my when my son was in school and doing field trips, you would always see the same few kids not going. And why was that? So that's something some the community can do. I used to always pay an additional field trip fee at my child school. That is such a great point. Pack an extra lunch for the field trip. Because sometimes the kids won't go on the field trip because you have to bring a packed lunch, usually. And the school they can't get their free their free food. So think outside the box of how you would subtly help someone. And I always told the teachers, I don't even need to know who it is. Don't tell me who it is. The field trip fee is 15, here's 30.

SPEAKER_01 19:39

And that was my next question. If everyone listening could do one practical thing when you're listening to this conversation, I I want to focus more on the children. Can you give me some more examples? And thank you for alerting me to this because I always thought, you know, that there's this little caveat that comes with every school field trip form at my kids' school. If you can't afford it, please let us know. We will be able to. But I never thought, how do they get that funding? Um, it's not budgeted into the school district. Right. So it's parents like you who are thinking outside the box.

SPEAKER_00 20:11

Do you really want to check that box? I don't want to check that box on the field trip form. I can't afford this. I would just say my child's sick.

SPEAKER_01 20:19

I didn't think about that. But if you had enough parents who were reaching out and you could say, we were happy to cover everything, we have it all covered in-house, I mean, maybe it would be an easier scholarship opportunity for people. You're you're touching on something that's so deep, um, the shame and the fear that people feel and the trickle-down effect of that. If a parent is feeling this and they're emulating that character and quality, how do you ask for help if you live with people who are too proud to ask for help? So, how do they, how do you find those children when their parents are not alerting you to it?

Wraparound Services That Remove Shame

SPEAKER_00 20:59

So, what usually happens when people come to Jewish Family is that they come for something minimal. They they come in, they maybe they want to come for counseling, they want to, they want to come for you know something small that they feel is is safe. And then when we get in there, and the reason we're designed the way we are, is that we can literally wrap services around. So a lot of times someone may come in and say, I'm having anxiety, I just want to talk to the therapist about this, and then the therapist finds out they haven't had power for a week or they don't have food or their children need clothes, and we're able to walk down the hallway, let's get the power turned back on, you can leave with some food, let's go to over to the clothing closet, let's get some clothes. Um and so it's very often that we find them, they do reach out, but they reach out in a way that they think is acceptable and that there isn't going to be judgment. And then as we peel back that onion, we get down to the root cause.

SPEAKER_01 21:49

I love the way you described it because I remember sitting in in your office spaces and learning about the concept of wrap around services, just as you described. After decades of doing this work, what still breaks your heart?

SPEAKER_00 22:05

The fact that we still have to have this conversation. The fact that I didn't come here and say, oh my gosh, Susie, things are great, numbers are down, need is down, funders understand, money is pouring in. You know, maybe that's I'm a Pollyanna. I'm a social worker. So I hope for one day you're I'm gonna sit on this in this chair and tell you that that I'm just seeing great things. And I am seeing great things. I am seeing progress. I am seeing success. I'm seeing reunifications with families, and I'm seeing families heal. So I don't want to take away from that. I'm seeing landlords jumping in and helping and wanting to work with their tenants. So it's not all negative. And I do think we need to be sure that we're talking about those positive things too. Um, the mental health conversation, the fact that we get state mental health money now, that's huge. Yeah. I probably three years ago I said we didn't, and now we do. Correct. Or we were just getting it for the first time. And so there is progress being made. And I do want to make sure that the news is talking about that progress, but also being very aware that we need to keep talking about the challenges and we need people to get involved. And it can be as simple as paying a field trip or dropping up a couple dropping off a couple jars of peanut butter, or when you go to Walmart and you see the $5 t-shirts, buying a couple extra packs and dropping them off at the nearest clothing closet. New clothes are nicer than used clothes. Yeah. We would all agree to that. And so it can be easy, and I understand that expenses are high for everyone, and everyone is struggling now. But just the little things. It doesn't have to be big. I think people sit around and go, I have to do this big, grandiose thing. And it it's just the little things if everyone just did something.

SPEAKER_01 23:42

So it's staying engaged without feeling overwhelmed or becoming overwhelmed.

Donors Funders And Unrestricted Giving

SPEAKER_01 23:47

How do you continue to develop these relationships with your donors, with your funders so that they're not feeling exhausted? You shared some spaces where hope is obvious and the uh progress that has been made is apparent, but let's not forget we can't heal what we don't feel. Right. So if we don't continue to look for those gaps, right, for everything that we fix, may expose a gap somewhere. Tell me about your funders and your donors. How much do they want to know? How much do they just give and trust? How much is restricted versus how much goes to your operating expenses? Because we know that Colleen is a steward of our community and wraparound services with a goal. We know that if we give money for this, chances are she will uncover eight different things, and we want to know that she can confidently solve those needs.

SPEAKER_00 24:34

I am very lucky with our donors. Our donors are very in touch with the community. My phone is usually ringing before I even have to call them. When SNAP was closed and the federal government wasn't paying the the military or a big military town, and the the phone was ringing saying, What do you need? How can we help? And unrestricted is always the best. It's not that we're not accountable for those dollars. I can still tell you where every dollar was spent. Oh, absolutely. But it gives us the flexibility because the other thing that's important for the nonprofit sector, especially, is that people don't come in one size that fits all. And so it's really difficult when there's a lot of restraints around the funding, because then I, example, you need help with a deposit. Well, I don't get deposit money. So I'm gonna tell you to lapse your rent because I can la I can pay your rent, but I can't pay your deposit. And then it can free up your money to pay the deposit so that I can pay your rent. Or I have prescription money, but I don't have utility money. So let your, you know, let your prescriptions lapse. I'll then pay for your prescriptions and then you see to free up money to pay your balance, right? So we really need unrestricted dollars. Again, still accountable for those dollars, but let the person come to us so we can meet them where they are, versus telling them where they need to be. Yeah. And then and then I can help you. You're already stressed, you're already in crisis, it's usually Friday at four o'clock, and then we're sitting there trying to play this chess game of what we can move around to be able to help you. And so, as donors, I would really think about with your dollars, yes, you can earmark them. I want to only work with homelessness or I only want to work with mental health. But then really give the organization the freedom. Because I would challenge you if you're giving an organization money and you don't trust them enough to give them a little bit of freedom that I would question if you should be giving to that organization. Quite frankly, our money, if we're open books, we can show everything. Um, we do show everything, and we can all not nonprofits can tell you where the money is spent and what their admin costs are. And so I would say give and then give them the freedom to do it. Still ask for accountability and reporting if that makes you feel comfortable. But let people and the nonprofit sector meet people where they are versus telling people what their need is.

Raising Givers With Time Talent Testimony

SPEAKER_01 26:47

I love that. I discovered several years ago, and that's how I first got involved with JFCS. It was time and talent first. I volunteered, and then I opened my home and hosted other people to find out more information about volunteering, and then I engaged some students that I was working with to volunteer. And then I became one of those like, just charge my card every month. I don't want to know, um, and please never mention it to my husband. And when you increase that charge, well, he doesn't listen to my show and I don't watch his news. Okay, there you go. That's our that's our deal. But that was the discussion that I had with your development director, Susie. Um, we have this concept in Judaism, Olimbi mitzvah in Moridim. You only increase a mitzvah, you never take away from it. And so I said, Um, I'm gonna buy two tickets to your event every year anyway. And I've justified to myself that if I make the annual campaign pledge, then that includes my two tickets. Just keep charging my card, don't tell me. And it was uh mind-blowing when I looked back over the course of this almost a decade that I've been volunteering and sponsoring and working and donating to JFCS. How many people that I honor, respect, and admire were one of your original funders, donors, and they continue to grow with the agency's needs. They do.

SPEAKER_00 28:05

Where they're very loyal. They see our mission, they see that we're meeting the mission, they see that the need is growing, we keep them educated, they stay involved. I get your newsletters. Yeah. Another idea I would have all of our children have to have community service for various reasons for school and for scholarships. Go with them. We're quick to drop them off, and they have these great experiences at Salzbacker or different places, the women's center, all the different places, and go with them.

SPEAKER_01 28:30

That's such a great suggestion. In my case, it's the opposite. My kids have to come with me. And so that's how they've learned the power of service over self. That you can't know what the community's needs are if you're not in the community.

SPEAKER_00 28:44

Right. I remember my son coming home and saying, The kids look just like me in the food pantry. Because he works on my food pantry at the agency. And mom, they're my age. And I was like, Yes, honey. And where do you go when you need food? You walk to the pantry, you open it up, and it's full, and if it's not full, you're angry, and I'm going to the store.

SPEAKER_01 29:02

We don't think about it. That's exactly right. My kids have made those connections organically, and it really started with the gift giving. So I'm gonna talk about this briefly because it's now in how many years. We just over a decade. Yeah. The uh holiday gift giving every year since I moved here 11 years ago. I adopted a child that is the same age and gender as each of my children. I do that as well. And the reason I started doing it and when I moved here, Brooklyn was two weeks old. So uh it's been happening for 11 years now. Um at the beginning they didn't understand 11 and 3. Right. But then they got to six and nine, and they didn't understand why they were buying those Beyblades, but had to give them away. Right. And now that they're 11 and 14, they wait for those lists and they want me to hand it to them so they can independently shop, and they want me to spend more than whatever the minimum is, and they keep telling me, but mommy, you don't understand. If they need socks on their list, we should probably get them shoes also. Right. And that was to me the eye-opening moment that I've succeeded as a parent. The generational system of giving is what I aspire to. Tell me a little bit about what gives you hope.

SPEAKER_00 30:21

That right there. We we need to care about each other. Somehow we've lost that in some ways. I remember as a child running the neighborhood, we didn't have cell phones, and someone would tell my mom where I was in the 1900s. Or that in the 1900s, yes. And that they saw me, and if I fell, they'd pick me up, they'd clean me up, and off I'd go on my bike. And do we have that anymore? Do we feel a responsibility for each other? I don't see it the way I felt it as a child or as growing up, that we have a responsibility to each other. You know, tikkun alam is the Jewish value that we really base our agency on, that we have a responsibility to make the world around ourselves better. Not just my world, but your world and those I don't even know.

SPEAKER_01 31:07

It's repairing the world in the general sense. So if you see something is wrong, don't just call it out, try to be the solution.

SPEAKER_00 31:14

Right. But to your point in the very beginning, you have to get close enough, and getting close is a little uncomfortable. So that's what I would encourage people to do. Get involved. It's great to give. I'm not saying don't give, but show up. See it, feel it a little bit. That changes your view. It changes what your world around you looks like, and it may change how you decide to get involved. And it may result in more money, maybe that would be great. But it may result in more time, which is also needed.

SPEAKER_01 31:44

Time, talent, and testimony.

Staff Commitment And The Wage Squeeze

SPEAKER_01 31:46

Talk to me. Yeah, let's talk about testimony. Um, your donors, your funders, they can't shut up about how great JFCS is. And at this year's annual event, what really I think and I I'll say I've been to so many of them, and they're always wonderful, they're always meaningful. This year, the credit, the flowers that you gave to your team members. Talk to me a little bit about who works at JFCS, what makes them stay as long as they do, why do we find people who previously received services from JFCS now working as counselors, as educators, as community leaders in JFCS? What's your secret sauce? What's my secret sauce?

SPEAKER_00 32:28

I think, gosh, I have so many wonderful employees that are committed to come in day to day. And some of our work is hard. Child abuse is hard. It's hard to see your kids on your case that have been battered and broken and to show up every day for them. But they are committed and they really do believe and change. They really do have hope that with the right supports and the right services that people can grow and that we can help make families stay whole or become whole. So I think there's that faith in, is it faith in humanity? Is it faith that things can get better? Faith that even if I'm playing a small part, I am making a difference and I'm making a difference in someone's life. For the people that receive services that now give or work for us, they know what getting that food meant to them. They know what it meant to have JFCS available to them. And now they can share that with other people. And it's it's rewarding. It it's it's the giving back, it's how you grow within yourself. There's nothing better. If people don't believe it, but when you're giving and you're helping and you go home, you may be tired, you may be exhausted. But there's there's something inside of you that grows and that makes you feel good. And so there really is healing in giving. And and people don't always know that, but once they they get a taste of it, then they get hooked. And that's why they stay and they're loyal and they see the outcomes and they see the success and they see staff being recognized. It's it's frustrating when people realize, don't realize that I need people to do the work. I need people to buy the food and distribute the food. It takes a workforce to do the work that we do, and they are important and they have to be supported, and they need to have a livable wage. And so that's that's a balance in trying to educate people that are my staff need to have a livable wage too.

SPEAKER_01 34:21

Back to affordable housing. Yes. This is one of those things that concerns me the most when we think about the people who work for JFCS, or teachers, or nurses. Law enforcement. Law enforcement. Yes. The access to affordable housing. We're talking about getting in the door. Um, was it 60?

SPEAKER_00 34:38

You need 66,000. Well, I don't think teachers start at 66,000. I know my staff, a lot of my staff doesn't start at 66,000. So they're relying on roommates. Many of them still live with their parents. It's it's difficult. So the people that are providing the help very often sometimes need help.

SPEAKER_01 34:56

Two generations ago, the average age for a home buyer was in their 20s and now it's in their 40s.

SPEAKER_00 35:01

Right.

SPEAKER_01 35:01

Are you finding your staff members impacted by what's happening?

SPEAKER_00 35:06

Do you rent they rent, they have very high interest rates on their vehicles. They are one car repair away. There's a lot of times where our organization has I'm lucky to have my when my dad passed away, we started a CEO fund. Oh wow. But I was able to I'm able to help staff on occasion. And so May his memory be for a blessing. I know, I love it. He would love it. So I I help my staff a lot.

SPEAKER_01 35:30

You bring tears to my eyes every episode. I don't know why. Sorry about that. No, I that's not my intention. It's in such a good

How To Volunteer And Celebrate Birthdays

SPEAKER_01 35:37

way. Um, we're recording now at the Performers Academy, um, and uh the foster children that are served here at the Performers Academy healing through the arts. Yes. Um it's important. Yeah, it is. And I brought my son to a showcase last summer. They're powerful, aren't they? Oh my gosh. He walked out, and just like your son, he said, they're my age. That boy was my age with that story of abuse um and trauma, and he wanted to know what he could do. So talk to me a little bit about those hours, the community service hours, and how people can learn more about what happens at JFCS. Do you do tours? Do you meet with people? How can we get more engaged and more involved?

SPEAKER_00 36:18

Sure. The fastest way is to go online. Go to the www.jfcsjacks.org. You can go online, you'll be in the GR programs, you can give, you can see volunteer opportunities. We have a volunteer coordinator, Melissa. So if you were to call the organization and say, I want to volunteer and get involved, she will sit down with you and talk to you about the opportunities. If it's around the holidays, it's probably going to be our holiday gift giving program. We're starting our foster care um birthday lunches again. Oh my gosh, I just talked about that the other day. So we stopped and then we started again. We're starting them again. Thank God. So um that came from a sign real quick. It was just when we did a study on our foster kids that were aging out, and they said, You do a good job, I get my license, I get my social security card, but I haven't ever had my birthday celebrated. And it just slammed me because I celebrate my birthday for a month. My child doesn't have one birthday cake, he has eight. You know, we do all these different things. I decorate the night before. And to never have said, I want a vanilla cake with chocolate icing and I want a set of ear pods or whatever, and to get them. Um I it just I was like, what are we doing? We've missed the boat. So now we have volunteers that will buy the cake that the child wants and requests. They may want cupcakes, they may want coconut cake, whatever that is. And then they also do a wish list, just like our holiday giving, about this is the present that I would like to see. And we go to a restaurant. Many of them haven't eaten at a restaurant that they are served. So they that's a new experience, and they get to we get to work with them on that, and we get to have conversation, and we get to say you are important for our kids that are abused. Sometimes they have been told that they they shouldn't have ever been born or they feel like they shouldn't have been born. And so to have us as an organization and their caseworker and then this individual come and say, I'm so thankful you're alive. I'm so thankful for your that you're here and that you were born and you are worthy of being celebrated, that is a huge message, and it's a powerful one and it's an important one.

SPEAKER_01 38:18

I thank you for bringing back that program because I remember how impactful it was for me to participate in for that very reason to be able to share with someone how valued and valuable they are, even if they've never heard it from anyone else.

Why Rural Counties Need More Services

SPEAKER_01 38:33

I can promise you that relaying that message probably impacted me for for a long time after. I don't know if they remembered me afterwards, but I sure remember that. You do. Um how long have you been at JFC this now?

SPEAKER_00 38:49

This is so young. Uh 28 years. You're still so young. You age backwards like a vampire. Yeah, that's it. Twenty-eight years, and I've been the CEO, I guess almost fifth, yeah, fifteen, because my son's fifteen.

SPEAKER_01 39:02

What's been your favorite part? What has made the biggest impact on you after all these years?

SPEAKER_00 39:07

What I like from a staff standpoint is because we have a variety of programs, you can move throughout the organization. Obviously, I didn't start as a CEO, I started as a social worker. And as I grew and as I gained more information and as I got more education, I was able to move throughout the organization and do different things. I started in a school-based program at Stilwell Middle School, then I worked with kids that were sexually abused, and then I worked into the child, you know, in the child welfare arena, and then I moved up in administration. So I love that we're able to give staff an opportunity that, yes, if you go get your master's, you could stay here and have another opportunity. What I also love most about our organization is the fact that we can meet multiple needs in one place. Jacksonville is large, it's transportation is always a challenge. And the fact that we can, we can't meet all needs in one space, but we can meet a lot of them. And so we really get to, when people leave our building, we've helped them. Versus here you go, here's a referral, here's a bus pass, good luck. We've really gotten those lights turned back on or given you food or gotten you that counseling, and we're able to do it in that one safe space.

SPEAKER_01 40:11

Yeah, it's a beautiful space. Um and there's the secondary location where the food pantry and the clothing closet is. Now we have an office in Nassau, Baker, Stark, and Gainesville. So we've lots of offices in each one of those counties now? There are. And what is the predominant need that you're finding people would be surprised to hear has been added to JFCS's list of things to do?

SPEAKER_00 40:35

I I would still go back to food. I would go back to food and financial assistance. It's the root of a lot of problems. Um, mental health. Um, if someone wanted to give towards mental health services, so there would be there won't be any barriers. Our psychiatrists and our nurse practitioners, so there aren't any barriers to accessing mental health. Um, but our expansion really was around child abuse and then building resources up in those communities. And the rural communities are wonderful and they are supportive and they are hungry for services. Baker has been phenomenal. The school system donated space for us for our food pantry. The sheriff's office has been phenomenal. They help us, they're giving out our flyers when they go to domestic violence and mental health calls so that we can provide services there. Those those communities are really wanting assistance and they're wanting resources, and they want us to help them build those resources up, and they're absolutely partnering with us in doing that, and we're seeing it happen.

SPEAKER_01 41:28

So I love that we're keeping you up less at night in other counties a little bit. You're never gonna sleep a hundred percent. Um, and that's partially why I keep growing in admiration for you. Every time I speak with you, you've uncovered one new area that you can dig deeper into, and not for the purpose of just educating, but in solving those needs. Absolutely. Is there anything I can do to help? Keep doing what you're doing.

SPEAKER_00 41:53

What you're doing, you're doing it right now.

SPEAKER_01 41:56

Thank you so much for coming back and always chatting with me and bringing awareness, education, and opportunity for people to become more engaged and involved. Like you said, this is not another county, another community. I realize that my son who plays baseball, when he plays, all those kids are from everywhere. And so if one kid is hungry in another county, it matters. It matters.

Closing Reflections And A Leadership Mensch

SPEAKER_01 42:20

When I first sat across from Colleen in January 2023, I thought I was recording a podcast episode. I didn't realize I was recording a lesson because over these conversations I've come to understand something. People don't fall apart overnight. Most people don't wake up homeless or hungry or in crisis. Usually it's small things a medical bill, a rent increase, a lost job, a car repair. Tiny cracks that eventually become fractures, and those fractures can undo the entire scaffolding of a family's life. And maybe that's why community matters so much. Exactly what you said, Colleen. Get out there, get in there, see with your own eyes, feel it with your heart, so that it's not something you can just close your eyes to. It's standing close enough to catch them before they fall completely. In today's conversation, if it reminds you of anything, it's this food isn't just food, housing isn't just housing, mental health isn't just mental health. They are dignity, they are security, they are humanity. You can't deal with what you don't feel. And perhaps being awake simply means seeing people clearly enough to realize that their struggle could become our struggle faster than any of us would like to believe. Thank you so much, Colleen. Thank you. And now it's time for our honorable mention. Mensch is the Yiddish word for someone who shows up with integrity, responsibility, and heart. Today's honorable mention goes to Alicia Bauman. I love her. There are some people who walk into a room and immediately take up space. And then there are people like Alicia who create space for everyone else. As the CEO of the Women's Center of Jacksonville, Alicia is helping guide an organization that has spent decades empowering women. Through counseling, advocacy, financial education, career support, and personal growth. The Women's Center doesn't just help people survive difficult seasons, it helps people rediscover their worth, their voice, and their future. And somehow Alicia manages to do all that while making people feel deeply seen, much like you, Colleen. Not performatively seen and not network events seen, human seen. She is also the author of The Art of Space Making, which honestly feels less like a title and more like her life's philosophy. Because whether she's mentoring, listening, leading, or simply showing up with intention, Alicia has a rare gift for creating environments where people feel safe enough to become more fully themselves. And in a world where so many people are fighting to be heard, to belong, to breathe, that kind of presence is sacred. So today we honor a woman who reminds us that leadership is not always about being the loudest voice in the room. Sometimes it's about being the person who quietly makes room for everybody else's voice to matter to. And that will do it for us today. Thank you for joining me for another episode of Shmoose with Suze. If this conversation made you think, feel, or see something a little differently, share it because these conversations, they matter. Follow along on Instagram, Facebook, and YouTube for your daily dose of Chutzbah. I'm Suze, your well informed smart ass, reminding you what's an envelope if not for pushing. Stay inspired and inspiring.

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Schmooze with Suze

Suzie Becker

Hi, I’m Suze. Here with your weekly dose of culture, values and identity- and where we tackle those topics others may consider off-limits. A little about me, I’m a busy Gen X mom who, quite frankly, wanted to grow up like the Brady Bunch… but ended up being raised in the shadow of Schindler’s List. So this means I’ve spent a lifetime navigating these mixed messages we get hit with daily. You know those conversations- where we wonder if it’s safe to speak our minds? Can we share our experiences? Voice our fears and concerns, or should we just keep our mouths shut? Well, too bad. I need to know! But I’m no expert. So, I’m going to schmooze the experts and get their thoughts. Why? So, when we engage with our kids, colleagues, or the countless committees we interact with, we can do it with competence, kindness, confidence, and maybe a bit of humor. If this sounds like your cup of coffee- welcome to Schmooze with Suze.

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