WJCI Receives Grants to Support Refugee Resettlement

Responding to the urgent need to resettle thousands of Afghans who were forced to leave their country, the Westchester Jewish Coalition for Immigration (WJCI) was recently awarded grants from UJA-Federation of New York and The Shapiro Foundation to support and increase refugee resettlement.

The funding will allow WJCI to respond to a call from the Federal government to non-profit community organizations around the country - including Westchester and surrounding counties - to increase their capacity for resettling refugees rapidly. Some 30,000 Afghans remain on military bases that the government would like to see empty as soon as early February. WJCI will mobilize institutions (synagogues, churches, mosques, community centers) and individuals to welcome and assist refugees and transform their lives.

Beginning last August, WJCI recognized the humanitarian crisis unfolding as American troops left Afghanistan and the Taliban quickly entered Kabul. After running a successful drive and filling seven trucks with necessities for the Afghan refugees living on Joint Base McGuire-Dix-Lakehurst in N.J. this past fall, it became evident that it would be necessary to step in to assist the resettlement effort. Moreover, WJCI's connections with more than fifty-two synagogues and Jewish community centers in and around Westchester positioned it well to mobilize its growing network. This grew into an effort to create interfaith Host Groups, calling on Jews, Christians, and Muslims too, as all their faiths teach, "welcome the stranger."

WJCI convenes co-sponsorship or "Host Groups," and helps them raise funds and form specialized committees designed to acclimate newly arrived refugees to their new home and community. The welcoming Host Groups will receive training through resettlement agencies such as HIAS (formerly known as the Hebrew Immigrant Aid Society) or IRIS (Integrated Refugee & Immigrant Services), learning how to put the new arrivals on the road to self-sufficiency. Starting in January 2022, WJCI will provide microgrants in amounts up to $5,000 to groups that qualify for these matching funds.

WJCI will establish 15-20 of these new "Host Groups" this year. Under the direction of HIAS or IRIS, each group will be trained and supported as its members find housing, furnishings, supplies, and clothing and lead the family in securing education for their children, English language instruction, job interview skills, and employment.

"Now more than ever, we need new, flexible, fast, and creative approaches to welcome the large influx of people who are already on U.S. soil and need resettlement," said WJCI President Holly Rosen Fink. "We could not be more grateful to our funders, UJA-Federation of New York and The Shapiro Foundation. They have entrusted WJCI to do the work of both mobilizing and funding groups that want to do essential refugee resettlement work by working with HIAS and/or IRIS to welcome the Afghan community."

WJCI has more than 400 supporters, including 30 rabbis and cantors affiliated with synagogues around Westchester, Rockland County, the Bronx, and other parts of the New York metropolitan area. In addition, WJCI plans to work closely with other local community organizations such as Neighbors for Refugees, Ossining for Refugees, ReSET, Hearts and Homes for Refugees, Neighbors Link, Community Resource Center, New York Immigration Coalition, Synagogue Coalition on the Refugee and Immigration Crisis, and Rivertowns for Refugees, to strengthen the area as a welcoming community. WJCI is also a member of the Westchester Jewish Council.

Applications for WJCI microgrants and more information about this new program can be found here. Questions about the grant process can be directed to info@wjci.org.

About Westchester Jewish Coalition for Immigration (WJCI):

Westchester Jewish Coalition for Immigration (WJCI) is a non-partisan organization that envisions the United States where refugees, asylum seekers, and other immigrants can live in safety with dignity. It comprises Jewish and interfaith communities throughout Westchester/Rockland and northern Bronx Counties. WJCI includes Reform, Conservative, Orthodox, Non-Denominational, and Reconstructionist Jews, and partner institutions of all faiths and individuals to assist and act on behalf of immigrants and refugees.

WJCI, which is entirely volunteer-run, officially launched in 2020 to expand the role of Westchester's Jewish community in social action, engagement, advocacy, and education around the topic of immigration and refugees. www.wjci.org

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