After more than three decades of visionary leadership, unwavering advocacy, and profound dedication, Dorothy Salomonsky is retiring from Jewish Family Service of Tidewater. Her departure marks the conclusion of a monumental career that not only built the foundation of JFS’s guardianship services but fundamentally shaped the landscape of adult guardianship across the Commonwealth of Virginia.
When Salomonsky first recognized the glaring gaps in the care and protection of vulnerable adults with psychiatric, mental, and physical disabilities, she didn’t just seek out existing solutions—she created one. Under then JFS executive Harry Graber’s enduring words: “If it makes sense to you, it makes sense to me,” Salomonsky was the driving force behind the development of the Personal Affairs Management (PAM) guardianship program at JFS.
Under her guidance, the PAM program grew from a local check writing initiative through an AARP grant, into a benchmark standard of excellence. She approached guardianship not merely as a set of legal mandates, but as a deeply human responsibility. Salomonsky championed the philosophy that every individual under guardianship deserves a life lived safely, meaningfully, and in the least restrictive environment possible, preferring community integration, family home settings, and personalized life skills training over unnecessary institutionalization.
Salomonsky’s influence extended far beyond Tidewater. Her unmatched expertise and fierce advocacy established JFS as a trusted leader in the field, helping to pioneer structural oversight and statutory accountability mechanisms that protected vulnerable adults statewide.
She worked alongside lawmakers, state agencies, and legal professionals to shape public policy and advocate for the rights of individuals under guardianship, ensuring that the power imbalance inherent to guardianship relationships was balanced with absolute dignity, trust, and professional vetting. Because of Salomonsky’s work, Virginia’s guardianship framework became more clinical, structured, and client centered.
At its core, Salomonsky’s career has been defined by the profound honor and privilege of standing by those who need it most. She built a professional culture at JFS where staff work tirelessly to ensure that individuals facing severe cognitive, physical, or psychiatric compromises are never left isolated, alone, or forgotten.
As Salomonsky steps into a well-deserved retirement, she leaves behind an organization forever transformed by her brilliance and a Commonwealth whose most vulnerable citizens are safer because she chose to dedicate her life to their protection. The entire JFS family, alongside decades of advocates and community partners, extends its deepest gratitude to Dorothy Salomonsky for a legendary career of service.
Honoring a legacy of advocacy: Dorothy Salomonsky retires after more than three decades of transforming guardianship
