Miriam Singer, President & CEO, Jewish Community Services of South Florida (JCS)

In an interview with Invest:, Miriam Singer, president and CEO of Jewish Community Services of South Florida (JCS), discussed the organization’s 105-year history and mission of serving frail and vulnerable populations throughout every corner of Miami-Dade County. “We provide services to a full array of residents, and our work is led by our Jewish values, such as healing the world and the belief that if you save a life, you save the world,” she said.

Reflecting on the past year, what have been the main highlights and key milestones for the organization?

The significant highlights for Jewish Community Services of South Florida have been focused on our ability to continue to scale to meet the changing needs of the community, particularly the growing community of individuals who are frail and vulnerable. Our safety net of service, which is 105 years old, has been significant in terms of providing an improved quality of life, self-sufficiency, or both, to thousands upon thousands of residents of our South Florida community.

As you may know, the focus of our work is in Miami-Dade County, but we also have unique programs that extend into Monroe, Broward, and Palm Beach Counties. Our footprint is substantial, and because our work focuses on frail and vulnerable individuals, it is also our differentiator from other agencies. 2025, in particular, was unique in our ability to continue to scale and to inform our programs in terms of which direction to take and where to make investments to serve individuals in need based on data.

We could not do any of this work without the generous support of our corporate business partners and government partners. These relationships are long-standing and strong – for some government partners, collaboration has occurred for over a century. As per our business partners, our relationships have continued to grow and strengthen for decades, contributing to the strength and capacity building of our organization. Key partners include United Way Miami, The Children’s Trust, Thriving Mind South Florida, Greater Miami Jewish Federation, Alliance for Aging, and many more. 

How are you working to ensure that the interests of a growing Jewish community are being represented in the state of Florida, especially in Miami? 

The focus of Jewish Community Services of South Florida is, and has always been, to provide social services based on Jewish values. The number of Jewish families in our community has increased, with many relocating post-pandemic from the Northeast, California, and even the Midwest, including states like Illinois. At the same time, we have also seen an increase in the need among families that were already in our community, both Jewish and non-Jewish, particularly in regard to food security, housing security, mental health, and basic essential life support systems. The impact of the economy, market forces, and the cost of living increases have stressed major parts of our community, particularly seniors, elderly people with disabilities, and those who rely on fixed incomes. For many of these individuals, the ability to sustain themselves has been further strained by the rising cost of living.

We provide services to a multitude of residents, but our focus on Jewish families is centered on our values, such as healing the world and the belief that if you save a life, you save the world. These are the basic concepts that guide how we approach individuals in need, treating them with respect and dignity to allow them the opportunity to achieve self-sufficiency.

For many of the seniors in our community that JCS supports, whether they are Holocaust survivors or frail seniors who are not survivors, we are seeing a significant reduction in their ability to sustain themselves without the support of safety net service providers like our agency. What is unique about us is our Jewish lens, as well as our Latino and Haitian Creole lenses, which reflect the communities we serve and our staff. We offer cultural sensitivity and, more importantly, cultural humility. We learn as much from our clients as they receive from us in terms of the best methods to offer them support.

Our ability to keep people in their homes as long as possible without additional dependence on government resources or institutionalized care has been a noteworthy achievement. From a quality-of-life perspective, this is huge. The return on investment for every dollar invested in nonprofit agencies like ours is significant. This represents a cost avoidance that would otherwise fall on either the government or the private sector. There is a strong value proposition in what we do, and it allows us, based on our Jewish values and the strength of our 105 years of experience, to make a meaningful impact.

What are some ways in which your organization has addressed the growing mental health needs in the community?

We manage the 988 Suicide & Crisis Lifeline for Miami-Dade County and Monroe Counties. We operate 24/7, 365 days a year, including holidays, and we provide services in all languages, with primary languages being English, Spanish, and Haitian Creole. Interpretation is also available in other major languages.

In 2024, we saw a 33% increase in suicide and mental health crisis calls compared to 2023. Even more alarming, 51% of those calls were from children aged 11 to 17. This data informs our decisions about where to direct investments from corporate business partners and government entities. For example, we have augmented our mental health awareness training programs to help individuals recognize signs of mental illness in their family members, friends, or colleagues and know how to respond and where to refer them for help.

We also have legislative proposals under consideration to address mental illness, aiming to provide a continuum of care for individuals in crisis, regardless of their ability to pay. Many families are struggling economically, even those where individuals are working two or three jobs to make ends meet. It is crucial to address not only their economic needs but also their mental health needs so they can sustain their families, contribute to the economy, and become more self-sufficient.

In addition to receiving and triaging calls, we refer individuals to appropriate resources within their community, whether we provide those services or not. We manage over 4,500 resources, including mental health services, emergency housing assistance, and support for utility bills or car payments. Our one-stop shop is free of charge, culturally competent, and culturally humble.

What will be the main priorities and goals for the Jewish Community Services of South Florida in the next two to three years?

Our outlook is always positive. We are very hopeful about the future. In January 2025, our board approved a 10-year strategic plan focused on capacity-building, financial strength, and impact. The third piece of our three-legged stool is impact: what return on investment can we make to balance the opportunities for individuals experiencing transitional or long-term trauma?

We are exploring the opportunity to deliver affordable housing surrounded by wraparound services. Currently, we are working on a project in Miami Beach on the grounds of a Title I school, which serves children from low-income families, providing them with free breakfast and lunch. This school also supports unhoused families. This project represents a great opportunity to bring together the three-legged stool of partnerships — the public, private, and nonprofit sectors — to lift up these families and provide their children with a safe, stable, and secure place to live, grow, and study.

We have strong partners in the Miami-Dade County Public School System, the city of Miami Beach, Miami-Dade County, and many private sector entities. Our goal is to bring this vision to fruition. Housing remains the No. 1 need, and we are committed to addressing it. If we can provide safe, affordable housing wrapped with necessary services, we can make a significant impact. This three-legged stool is critical to building capacity and addressing the needs of a world-class community like ours. The quality of these partnerships, the investments made together, and the coordination among the sectors are the secret sauce to success. Each of us is responsible for ensuring that these partnerships are real and effective in delivering results for our community.