A Message from Moshe Kruger, Executive Director
For everything there is a season…

Dear Friends,

It is with mixed feelings that I say farewell to Rowan Kelley, Director of Jewish Family Services. A feeling of sadness to see Rowan go, and yet genuine happiness to see Rowan pursuing his career goals in the field of mental health as a clinical counselor.

Rowan’s contribution to the Federation has literally touched all aspects of the organization. From his first position at the Federation seven years ago, the Jewish Community has had the great fortune to see Rowan grow over the years into a valuable member of our team. Rowan’s contribution has been a great benefit to the Federation and to our community, and undeniably, he will be deeply missed here. 

In this new season for Rowan, come January 2021, he will spread his wings to make good on his master’s degree in counseling with a goal to become a licensed healthcare professional. All of us at the Federation could not be prouder of Rowan’s accomplishments. 

Over the next couple of months, I’ll be working closely with Rowan to prepare Sandy Levine to take over the reins of JFS. Sandy is a member of our Michiana Jewish community and has significant organizational leadership and case management experience in the community health field. 

Please join me in wishing Rowan the very best of luck and the greatest of success in all his future endeavors. 

With gratitude for all that you do, Rowan…and will continue to do. Godspeed and lehitroat (see you again soon). 

Moshe Kruger
Lehitroat Letter | Rowan Kelley

Dear Michiana Jewish Community,

As many of you know, I recently finished my master’s degree in clinical mental health counseling. In order to pursue my counseling license and eventually becoming a fully licensed mental health professional, I need to do work that includes supervision with a licensed clinician, and this will not be possible in my current role at the Federation. I therefore submitted my resignation letter for my position as the Director of Jewish Family Services last week.

Much of my personal and professional life over the last seven years has been connected to working with our community. While I didn’t expect that much of my time as Director of Jewish Family Services would be during this era of COVID-19, I am proud of the work that our staff, advisory board and volunteers have done: adapting our services to the need for physical distancing; continuing to improve our data collection and record keeping; and conducting a needs assessment to ensure that our JFS department continues to meet the relevant and important human service needs of every member of our Jewish community. I’m proud of the work that we have done and look forward to seeing continued success for Jewish Family Services.

I am very confident in bringing Sandy Levine on board to continue the legacy of our department. As you can see from her biographical information, she has the education and training to competently manage our department, a career history of dedication to serving the needs of vulnerable populations, and a vested interest as a member of our Jewish community. Whether conducting our normal services and programs or continuing to make the necessary changes to meet the community’s needs with the limited resources at our disposal, I am looking forward to seeing the quality of work that Sandy brings to helping Jews who are in need in our area.

Best,

Rowan Kelley
JFS Director
Short bio | Sandy Levine

Sandy Levine brings a wealth of knowledge and experience to Jewish Family Services. She has a bachelor’s degree in Child and Family Studies from the University of Tennessee, and a master’s degree in Psychology from Notre Dame. Sandy has worked to help children and families in a variety of settings. Most recently, Sandy devoted 28 years to assist people of all ages with Developmental Disabilities and Mental Illness at Woodlands Behavioral Healthcare Network in Michigan. She provided departmental leadership, supervised staff, and directed numerous programs and services.

Sandy has been active in the Jewish Community of South Bend for many years. She is a member of Temple Beth-El and has served as Temple Sisterhood President. Her daughters attended the South Bend Hebrew Day School in their early years. The couple has also engaged with the Midwest Torah Center. 

Sandy has been married to Danny Levine for 39 years. The couple has two adult daughters in Chicago, Elizabeth and Missy. Sandy regularly visits her father, Joe Markley.