The Tragedy in Parkland, Florida
The message below was sent to JCCA staff following the tragic high school shooting in Parkland, Florida, on February 14, 2018. Dear JCCA Colleagues: Yesterday afternoon, a gunman opened fire on students at a Florida high school, killing at least 17 people and wounding...
FYSA Advocacy Day in Albany
Teens and staff from JCCA joined Childrens Aid Society, The Children's Village, and other child welfare organizations in Albany to advocate for more help for foster youth attending college. We met with state legislators and their staff to ask for $4.5 million in the...
A Tree Grows in Pleasantville Raises $450,000 for Pleasantville Cottage Campus
JCCA Trustee Stephanie Spiegel, pictured here with her husband Lee, was honored for her incredible dedication to the children and families of JCCA. Because of her efforts, the annual Tree event has raised more than $4 million since its inception in 2006. Additionally,...
A Passion for JCCA: Stephanie Spiegel
Trustee Stephanie Spiegel is this year’s honoree at JCCA’s “A Tree Grows in Pleasantville” event. It’s a fitting award for a woman who organized the first Tree event in 2005, started the Pleasantville Cottage Campus Lunch Bunch volunteer program 14 years ago, and...
Message from CEO Ronald Richter: Happy New Year!
Dear JCCA Colleagues, As I reflect on 2017, I am more appreciative than ever of you, our JCCA staff members, who continue to devote yourselves to the highest quality of care for our children and families. While we cannot predict what the future holds, I am optimistic...
Message from CEO Ronald Richter: Happy Chanukah!
The Jewish holiday of Chanukah began last night. Known as the festival of lights, Chanukah celebrates a miracle from 167 BCE, when the Maccabee freedom fighters’ only supply of pure oil, enough to light the temple for one night, lasted for eight. This year, if we...
Pleasantville Cottage School Remembered, 1960-61
JCCA’s alumni comprise a rich and complex group of people who come from diverse communities, backgrounds, and generations. Having suffered serious trauma in their early years, with the help of JCCA’s services, they have moved on to a wide range of occupations and...
Message from CEO Ronald Richter: Happy Thanksgiving!
We know too well the hardships of not having a loving family or enough food to eat throughout the year and especially during the holidays. Indeed, we work to build and strengthen families and to make sure children are safe, nurtured, and nourished. On Thanksgiving,...
Pleasantville Cottage Campus Youth Sing!
Forty children who are residents of JCCA’s Pleasantville Cottage Campus gave a terrific, heartfelt performance in their production of “The Lion King” on Wednesday evening, November 15. The cast sang and danced their hearts out to an audience of approximately 300...
A New York Story: Morris Abramowitz and Roberta Seltzer
In the first half of the last century, Morris Abramowitz was a NYC police officer patrolling a beat in the Bronx. Born in Russia in 1905, and the second of six children, he was six months old when his parents immigrated to the US. In his teens, his mother became sick...