Image Credit: Lorie Shaull

WHAT YOU CAN DO

WJCI strives to educate and mobilize our community about the issues facing asylum seekers, undocumented immigrants, and refugees.

UPCOMING EVENTS

2022 Jewish Heritage Festival Flyer_Front.jpg

Save the date! In a month WJCI will be present at the 46th Annual Westchester Jewish Music & Arts Festival at Kensico Dam in White Plains. Come find us alongside our partners and the event's sponsors, UJA-Federation of New York, Westchester Jewish Council, and Temple Shaaray Tefila of Westchester! Check out more details here.

WJCI and Concerts in Motion Invite You to a Celebration of Ukrainian Music and Culture..pn

Join WJCI and Concerts in Motion on August 26th from 2-3 PM EST on Zoom for a virtual concert celebrating Ukrainian music and culture for newly arrived Ukrainian refugees. Please contact info@wjci.org for details.

Invited Keynote Speaker Ruth Messinger (CONFIRMED) Invited Panelists Include Jirandy Marti

Refugee Shabbat 2023 will take place on February 3 and 4. It is a moment for congregations, organizations, and individuals in the United States and around the world to dedicate a Shabbat experience to refugees and asylum seekers.

The fastest-growing European refugee crisis since World War II is still ongoing. People seeking asylum are being turned away at borders around the world. And this year, for the first time ever, the total number of displaced persons globally is over 100 million. This is a critical moment for all of us to reaffirm and redouble our support for refugees and asylum seekers. Learn more and sign up to participate here.

Ongoing Opportunity:

The Refugee Leadership Development Program provides monthly workshops to refugee and immigrant organizers across the United States. Led by refugees for refugees, this training series is an opportunity to learn more about advocacy tactics being used to advance pro-refugee / pro-immigrant policy on the state and national level, story-telling and narrative shifting, and connecting with resources and local networks to build more welcoming and inclusive communities.

PAST EVENTS

Missed a Live Event? Catch Up On Our YouTube Channel

GET INVOLVED

WJCI & CLERGY: WORKING TOGETHER

Because of our experiences as Jews, we are sensitive to immigration issues and immigrants' presence in our communities. The Torah itself is explicit in Exodus, "You shall not oppress a stranger, for you know the feelings of the stranger, having yourselves been strangers in the land of Egypt".

Here are a few ways Rabbis, Cantors, and congregations can be involved in our work:

Attend WJCI's quarterly informational meetings to talk and learn about current immigration initiatives to help immigrants live better lives.

Speak from the pulpit about immigration issues of utmost importance, tying them into Jewish liturgy on occasions like Refugee Shabbat.

Bring refugees, resettlement workers, and Holocaust survivors to speak to congregants. Contact info@wjci.org for further information.
Encourage your synagogue's youth and college students to get involved in making our community a more welcoming place.
Join Bet Am Shalom, Congregation Kol Ami, Hebrew Institute of White Plains, Shaarei Tikvah of Scarsdale, and Temple Israel Center of White Plains in the Westchester Right to Counsel Coalition to protect immigrants’ right to fair housing.

ORGANIZE YOUR COMMUNITY ONLINE

Engage your community to urge their representatives and senators to support refugees, immigrants and asylum seekers.

Follow WJCI on Facebook

Follow WJCI's YouTube Feed

Follow WJCI on Instagram

Join WJCI on Twitter

GET INVOLVED

Push out initiatives through your synagogue’s social action committee

Book speakers for synagogues including refugees, immigration experts, etc.

Show your support for local families by assisting Westchester-based organizations to advocate for their clients such as Community Resource Center

Hold multi-faith events at your synagogue

Run a social media campaign for an immigration issue you support

Execute online petitions, social media campaigns, phone-a-thons, postcard writing events (virtual/in-person), rallies, and marches

Conduct educational online and virtual events about issues you support such as Right to Counsel or the Border Crisis

Create refugee-friendly/welcoming neighborhoods

Action Changes Things

ACT

Actions you can take to help local immigrants, asylum seekers and refugees.

If you know housing resources or want to be a resource for future needs, please contact Marti Michael. ACTions will be listed on the website for one month. If you would like your ACTion to remain longer or to request an ACTion be listed below or in the WJCI newsletter, please contact Holly Rosen Fink. Deadline: first Friday of each month.

The Community Wardrobe, a joint effort of the Horsemen PTA, the Village of Sleepy Hollow, and the Shames JCC, is an initiative that finds new homes for good clothes. It is free to locals who need them. The Wardrobe is now located at Shames JCC, 371 South Broadway in Tarrytown, NY. Clients can come by appointment only to find free clothes and shoes for the whole family.

Support local immigrant families who have experienced a severe crisis such as fires in their homes by sending $25-$50 gift cards so they can replenish lost clothing and purchase groceries to Neighbors Link at 7 Columbus Avenue, Mount Kisco, NY 10549.

Strong individuals needed for NFR's "moving team". Help move furniture, load, unload and drive the uHaul during one of the several moves NFR does each month. If interested, email info@neighborsforrefugees.com or Jmel Wilson.

Ruth’s Refuge is furnishing homes for seven refugee and asylum seekers. Here are some ways to get involved:

Shop this wishlist for a Ukrainian Family of 5.
Donate to the Air Conditioner Fund for refugees or make a general donation to Ruth's Refuge
Volunteer to be a part of their move teams, deliver items by car, do inventory or packs at storage units

Employment Leads and Contacts Needed

Have employment leads? Looking to hire? Visit here to see if you may be able to help any of the currently resettling refugees listed. Please contact Gene Tozzi or the listed contact. Gene is the employment committee chair for the Interfaith Council for New Americans in Westchester, and Hearts and Homes for Refugees.

RESOURCES

Did you know that while there were approximately 26 million refugees worldwide as of fiscal year (FY) 2020, the U.S. currently resettles just a small fraction of them. Less than 1 percent of the total number of displaced people on the world has been resettled to one of 37 current resettlement countries each year. Learn more here. (National Immigration Forum)

Print the WJCI One-Pager

Sample Co-Sponsor Resettlment Team Structure

LEARN MORE

Become a Comminity Co-Sponsor

Refugee Resettlement Terms

NY Refugee Referral Sheet - Form Responses

Humanitarian Parole Under the Uniting for Ukraine Program

HIAS Humanitarian Parole for Ukrainians Toolkit

HIAS Welcome Circle Resource Directory

Mental Health Treatment for Ukrainian New Arrivals

ORR PL 22-13 Ukrainian Humanitarian Parolees Eligible for ORR Benefits and Services

Policy Brief: Recommendations To Help The Most Vulnerable People Displaced From Ukraine