In a move to expand its space and its possibilities, the Jewish Family and Children’s Service of Greater Mercer County has opened a satellite facility adjacent to its main office at 707 Alexander Road in Princeton.

More than two dozen community and agency leaders were on hand on Monday, Dec. 4, as the agency dedicated the 900-square-foot facility, which is known as the Pavilion. The new space is now home to JFCS’ Department of Prevention, Education, and Support Services.

“We’re about to make this building officially a Jewish building,” said Rabbi Adam Feldman of The Jewish Center in Princeton as he prepared to affix a mezuza to the doorpost of the Pavilion.

“A mezuza is a statement of Jewish pride,” the rabbi said. “When we walk in and out of this door, we remember it’s a Jewish institution. There is a Jewish flavor to what we do here. There is Yiddishkeit here. There is learning going on here, and it always has a Jewish flavor.”

With its large group meeting space and its outdoor patios, the Pavilion will expand the agency’s opportunities to serve the community, said Linda Meisel, executive director of JFCS.

“We’re really excited about this very lovely space,” Meisel said in an interview. “We’re really able to expand and use our staff resources. The program is growing, and this is such an opportunity for us to think about what else we can offer the community.”

The Pavilion will offer expanded space for the activities and support groups of JFCS’ family life education programs; its teen programming, including the Jewish Community Youth Foundation, Gesher LeKesher, and the Teen Volunteer Corps; Project SARAH, the agency’s initiative against domestic violence; Project Reemployment; the LIGHTS (Love Is Giving Hanukkah Toys to Share) program; and the AmeriCorps volunteer initiative against hunger, as well as extra storage space for the Ohel Avraham Kosher Food Pantry, according to Debra Levenstein, director of prevention and support services for JFCS.

“I’m thrilled with this opportunity to continue to grow and offer more programs because we have this new space,” Levenstein said. “We have an opportunity for privacy and an opportunity for group work. I’m happy that the board of JFCS understood the need for more space… and that the community supports us in the work we do.”

Celeste Albert, coordinator of teen programs for JFCS, said she was very happy about the move to the Pavilion. “I just think it’s excellent,” Albert said. “I think it’s endless, what we can do with the space. It allows us to showcase what we do.”

JFCS board members Lois Miller of West Windsor and Maurice Weinberg of East Windsor also welcomed the possibilities afforded by the expansion.

“We’re thrilled to have the new space and to be able to expand our programming, because we really were in tight, tight quarters,” said Miller.

“I think this is a great opportunity for us to expand and not be on each other’s laps,” said Weinberg, immediate past president of the JFCS board. “I’m very happy.”

Andrew Frank, executive director of the United Jewish Federation of Princeton Mercer Bucks, said he was pleased to be on hand for the dedication of the new facility.

“The fact that they were able to get such an attractive space so near to their existing space bodes well for the interactions of the staff and their programs,” Frank said.

“May they go only from strength to strength,” he added with a smile, “and eventually to the new campus.”