In order to maintain the state’s Holocaust Survivor Assistance Program, which offers vital services to over 2,000 Holocaust survivors throughout California, Governor Gavin Newsom and the California Legislature have allotted $14.5 million.
Following lobbying efforts by Jewish Family Service of San Diego, six other Jewish Family Service agencies, the California Legislative Jewish Caucus, and the Jewish Public Affairs Committee of California, the funds is scheduled to be distributed this fiscal year.
Holocaust survivors, who are now in their late 80s and 90s, deal with more financial, emotional, and physical difficulties. The average participant in JFSSD’s Supporting Our Survivors program is 89 years old, and over half of them live below the poverty line—more than double the statewide rate for older persons. In order to assist survivors stay in their homes and communities for as long as possible, the additional HSAP money will mostly go for in-home care.
Over the past three years, the number of Holocaust survivors in San Diego and Orange counties who are receiving SOS services has increased by 160%. Over 450 survivors in those two areas were receiving vital support from JFSSD as of June 2025.
In 2022, California first set aside $36 million to finance HSAP over a three-year period. JFSSD is one of seven Jewish Family Service agencies in the state that run the program, which is overseen by the California Department of Social Services. Funding was scheduled to expire at the end of the month in the absence of this fresh commitment.
JFSSD CEO Dana Toppel expressed gratitude to the State of California for its ongoing support of our work helping hundreds of Holocaust survivors in San Diego and Orange County. Communities throughout the state are able to celebrate survivors’ resilience by giving them the resources they need to live out their remaining years with the respect they are due thanks to this financing.
JFSSD offers trauma-informed, culturally competent treatment through its SOS program, which includes case management, aid with food and nutrition, transportation, personal and home health care, dental care, housing support, and language services. Survivors who speak languages other than English can get the assistance they require according to the organization’s Center for Jewish Care. When taken as a whole, these programs can shield survivors from isolation, medical negligence, hunger, eviction, and other risks to their health.
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According to JPAC Executive Director David Bocarsly, “We have a moral responsibility to ensure that the last generation of Holocaust survivors can age with dignity and have the support they deserve as they enter their final years.” We express our sincere gratitude to Jewish Family Service for providing this care on a daily basis, as well as to the Governor, the Legislature, and the Jewish Caucus for taking the initiative to guarantee the continuation of this vital service. California is demonstrating that we will not abandon the survivors who have already gone through so much, even in a difficult fiscal year.
Advocates claim that ongoing investment beyond HSAP will be crucial to guaranteeing long-term stability and dignity for those who have experienced one of the worst tragedies in history, as the demands of survivors continue to become increasingly complex.
