Meet Liz Rock of Jewish Family & Children’s Service in Greater Phoenix

Today we’d like to introduce you to Liz Rock.

Liz, let’s start with your story. We’d love to hear how you got started and how the journey has been so far.
I was born and raised in Arizona. I worked for a few years as an after-school program coordinator, an event coordinator, and an activities manager. When I was in my mid-twenties, I was craving a big change. I packed up my stick-shift truck and moved to hilly San Francisco. It was not only scary to learn to park my truck on a steep hill, but also terrifying because I had taken out a loan to move and attend graduate school. One vivid memory I have from my first year there is purchasing and eating a single potato for dinner. I also had to get a horrendous part-time job at a snooty spa. I remember this period of time fondly though because I was taking chances and following my dreams in a GREAT city. The risk was worth it.

While living in San Francisco, I took a non-profit management course and learned about development, also known as fundraising. I discovered that every non-profit, hospital and university has a development department. I thought to myself, “hey, I can do that” and “I’m not scared of raising money.” After completing only one semester, I landed a job at a non-profit, quit school and started a new career path. To date, I have done fundraising work for The Trust for Public Land, Northern Arizona University, Arizona State University and now, Jewish Family & Children’s Service. I was right! Being a fundraiser is a valued skill that is highly marketable!

My favorite niche in fundraising is “major gifts.” I love the miracle of securing major investments in programs/organizations that create positive change and eliminate suffering. If I had to choose a life mission it would be “eliminating suffering.” I am deeply committed to social service. I believe there is so much love, potential and good in every one of us. Sometimes, life gets tough. Horrible things happen. We get sick. We need to stick together and help each other out.

Has it been a smooth road?
My road has been quite bumpy at times. One big struggle has been learning to thrive with a mental illness. “Panic Disorder” is part of my story. I would never be able to wrap my head around what it’s like to live with this illness if I had never experienced it myself. One of my life goals is to chip into the gigantic iceberg that is the stigma of mental illness.

So let’s switch gears a bit and go into the Jewish Family & Children’s Service story. Tell us more about it.
Jewish Family and Children’s Service is a non-profit, non-sectarian 501(c) (3) organization dedicated to strengthening the community through quality behavioral health social services, and primary medical care to children, families and adults. We are one of the largest behavioral health providers in the valley. The mission and values of JFCS are perfectly aligned with my own personal philanthropic passions of providing mental health care and social services to our community.

I am most proud of the programs that I fundraise for and the services that JFCS provides:

• Integrated Healthcare
• Medical Primary Care
• Counseling and Behavioral Health
• Domestic Violence Victim Assistance
• Substance Abuse Counseling & Recovery
• Child Welfare Services, Prevention & Education Programs
• Transition to Adulthood & Real World Job Development
• Older Adult Programs including Memory Café and Creative Aging Classes
• Jewish Community Services Including Career Services, Aleinu – Community Outreach & Education, Emergency Financial Assistance, Hospital Chaplaincy, Holocaust Survivor Services, Jewish Crisis & Response Team & Chagim – Holiday Programs

How do you think the industry will change over the next decade?
One exciting shift that is happening within JFCS is the move to offering integrated healthcare to every client we serve. Integrated healthcare is an approach where clients are treated by a collaborative team of therapists, clinicians, medical doctors, psychiatrists, nurse practitioners, and other healthcare professionals. The coordinated care efforts of this multidisciplinary team mean that every aspect of a client’s well-being is serviced in one convenient location. We are ahead of the curve on this as two of our sites already use this innovative and effective approach. Within the next few years, all four of our clinics will offer integrated healthcare

Contact Info:

• Address: 4747 N 7th Street
  Suite 100
  Phoenix, AZ 85014
• Website: https://www.jfcsaz.org
• Phone: (602) 279-7655
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/JFCSAZ/
• Twitter: @JFCSofArizona

Image Credit:
Liz Rock and her family

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