Gidon Peretz is the Jewish Federation’s new Director of Social Services. We spoke to him about how he became interested in social work and what he’s learned about Jewish Family Services (JFS) from community members.

Gidon Peretz, Director of Social Services

Q: Where did you grow up?

A: I was born in the northern part of Israel, in a kibbutz near the border with Lebanon. Then my parents moved us to another kibbutz near the Mediterranean Sea, next to the city of Ashdod, when I was six months old. That’s where I grew up.

Q: How did you become interested in social services?

A: I was very active in a youth movement growing up. I thought I would be in education, mostly informal education. After my military service, I started working with kids in extracurricular activities and youth groups. After working with kids for a few years I realized that I wanted to work not only with kids, but also with their parents. After talking to some people about the subject, I understood that social work could give me a good foundation to do that. I went on to do my bachelor’s degree in social work. Then I got to know the community organizing part of social work, and I started to love that part of the job. I also learned more about mental health, and from there I continued to go deeper into social service work. Since then, my work has included mental health, emergency preparedness, and developing social services.

Q: What brought you to Raleigh?

A: My wife is a United States citizen, and her mom grew up here. She also has family along the East Coast. When we decided that we wanted to move to the US, we were looking for a place with a lot of opportunities, good public education, and a strong Israeli expat community. We found all of that here. We’re very happy we made the move.

Q: What are you most excited about in your new role?

A: I’m really excited about rebuilding and strengthening JFS together with the community. I think that it’s amazing that the Jewish community here is organized in a way that they can build a service like JFS to take care of people. Where I come from, social services are structured in a different way. My priority is to listen, understand what needs to change, and work with our staff, volunteers, and community partners to make our services more responsive and reliable. I know that trust is built through what we do, and I’m looking forward to doing that work together.

Q: What do you think is the most important way to measure the impact of JFS in the community?

A: I think the most important way to measure impact is to see how many people in the community feel confident that they can reach out to JFS and receive help finding the right support. Of course, I want to measure our activity in numbers: how many people we’ve helped, how much financial assistance we’ve provided, and how many meals we’ve provided through our food programs. But our impact goes beyond the number of services we provide. It’s also about people knowing there’s a place in this community they can turn to when they are in need.

Q: Have you learned anything that has surprised you?

A: I was really surprised by how strong the spirit of volunteering is in this community. I think every person I’ve met is willing to do something for others. It’s even stronger than I expected.

Q: What do you like to do for fun?

A: I love to cook. I love hiking and camping with my family and spending time with friends.

Q: Anything you want our readers to understand?

A: I know that people in the community have strong feelings about JFS, its past, and its potential. I want them to know that their voices matter as we rebuild our services. I’d love to hear what has worked well, where we need to improve, and what support they would like to see. Whether you need support, have an idea, or want to volunteer, please reach out.

Contact Gidon Peretz at gidon.peretz@shalomraleigh.org.

Get to Know Gidon!