Local Jews Ask For Help Importing Their Next Servants

San Francisco CA

Description

According to the Jewish News of Northern California, local Jews are eager to import people with IED experience: Silicon Valley Jewish agency asks county for big funding boost to aid Afghan refugees Anticipating a rush of refugees over the next year escaping Taliban-controlled Afghanistan, Jewish Family Services of Silicon Valley is urging Santa Clara County to increase financial assistance to its agency to help bolster resettlement services. The county gives the agency, along with the U.S.-based global relief agency International Rescue Committee, $185,000 each annually. The request for additional funding — introduced by county supervisors Susan Ellenberg and Otto Lee — would boost the annual amount to $250,000 each, along with an additional, one-time injection of up to $750,000 that will be shared. Since the end of July, the Los Gatos–based JFS-SV has resettled 30 refugees from Afghanistan who arrived with Special Immigrant Visas, which are given to interpreters, translators and others who helped the United States during the 20-year war. But going forward over the next year, more funding will be needed, said Mindy Berkowitz, executive director since 2003. Her agency, she said, anticipates resettling around 300 Afghans in the Silicon Valley area, a stark contrast to the 50 refugees in total, from around the world, that it helped relocate last year. “They risked their lives for us,” Ellenberg, who represents Santa Clara County’s District 4, said during a morning press conference outside the county’s administrative offices on Sept. 13. Last month, Ellenberg participated in a climate change protest organized by a Jewish faith group. “And now, their safety depends on us,” she said. While the annual county funding goes toward English classes and career counseling services provided by JFS, the extra funding would be put toward rent and transportation costs, among other needs. “These refugees are coming,” said Berkowitz told J. “This is our county stepping up.” Berkowitz believes that the additional funding is an investment that will ultimately help save taxpayer money. Refugees, upon arriving in the country, receive government benefits such as food stamps, and Berkowitz said her agency offers services that will lead recipients to financial independence. “Do we want them to be successful, or do we want them to be a burden?” she asked rhetorically. One of the major needs for the incoming refugees is housing assistance. On the State Department’s “Resettlement Options” page for Afghans and Iraqis, it warns that cities in California “are very expensive” and that it “can be difficult to find reasonable housing and employment.” The median cost of rent in San Jose is around $2,200, despite a small drop last year because of pandemic-related pressures. At a press conference on Monday, Berkowitz said the “No. 1 focus” of her agency is helping refugees find housing at below-market rate. JFS has created a six-person team for this purpose and is reaching out to anyone in the community who can offer in-law units or other suitable options, and to landlords who are waiving employment requirements in their housing applications. The agency also is finding host families who house refugees until a more permanent solution is identified. “We’re finding all kinds of creative solutions,” Berkowitz said. “It’s not easy. We need everyone’s support on this one.” The five-person Santa Clara County Board of Supervisors is scheduled to vote on the funding proposal Tuesday, Sept. 14 during its regular meeting, which starts at 9:30 a.m. My analysis is that local landlords are eager to replace the people they are evicting as a result of COVID-related unemployment, with a new crop of tenants - and how much sweeter if the state, itself, is paying their rent. That these people will be placed directly in conflict with others seeking low-cost housing for their families, will be especially delicious, and will only increase the power of the local landlords even more.