Beth Hecht has been serving the Baltimore Jewish community for a long, long time.

She started her tenure with her current employer, Jewish Community Services, in 1991.

Before that, she was part of the organization’s young leadership program.

“I feel very blessed to be in this community with the system that we have. It’s such a partnership, and that’s not just lip service — it’s real in every area that we work. We are there for each other, and that’s what has led to my professional satisfaction and development over the years,” Hecht said.

Hecht actually began her job at JCS on a bit of a whim — she was filling in while another employee took maternity leave. Despite the temporary nature of the position when she took it, Hecht quickly realized that JCS was a place she wanted to stick around for a while.

“I had been a social worker since 1983, and I had worked mostly in the medical field. At that point, I didn’t really want to go back to doing that. I was born and raised in Baltimore, very familiar with the Jewish community, and it’s been wonderful. I’ve been very blessed to have this career working with Jewish Community Services, Jewish Family Services, Jewish Big Brother and Big Sister. It’s never been boring because I’ve had multiple opportunities.”

Today, Hecht serves as senior manager for successful aging at JCS. Every day is different for her in that role, but she spends a lot of time negotiating grants, working on various requests, meeting with staff and community members and meeting with other organizational leadership. As an agency of The Associated, JCS is in constant collaboration with Baltimore’s Jewish Federation for all sorts of issues and projects.

“We are so blessed that we have such a strong Federation system in Baltimore. I have colleagues all over North America doing this kind of work, and they don’t have the kind of support that we have,” Hecht said.

Hecht said the majority of the funding at JCS comes from The Associated, with other sources being grants from the state, the See the Dream Foundation and others. They also profit from services like counseling, behavioral health and disabilities services.

One of the funding sources is quite topical right now, Hecht said. The Conference on Jewish Material Claims Against Germany is the largest granter of the organization, and every couple years, it audits agencies it helps fund. That audit started this week.

“It’s a lot to work on [us], but we’ve got a great manager and she pulls together all the information that they need so that we can move forward. That’s what’s on our minds at the moment,” Hecht, a Beth Israel member, said.

Hecht said that one of her greatest professional honors was receiving the Daniel Thursz Distinguished Jewish Communal Service Award in 2021. The award is given to a select few who have served as outstanding members of the Jewish communal service community for at least 20 years.

“That was about five years ago. That was very surprising, and really heartwarming to be recognized that way,” Hecht said. “It was a little overwhelming to be considered in that way, and also very affirming, too.”

Hecht, who lives in Owings Mills, said her work at JCS has been so special not just because of the mission, but because of the people she has gotten to be around, too.

“There’s great people at every level, from The Associated all the way through,” she said. “It doesn’t get better than that.”

While she has done a number of roles at JCS, Hecht said that each has been special in their own way and that she can’t choose which of them was her favorite. She does, however, feel especially compelled to serve the community she works with now.

“It’s all been so meaningful and gratifying, and I am just always feeling like I’m making a difference. I know that sounds a little bit cliché, but it’s just true. This particular position, working with older adults and specifically with Holocaust survivors, that’s been really significant, really, and just very powerful almost on a daily basis,” Hecht said.

aguckes@midatlanticmedia.com