In the wake of the United States military’s withdrawal from Afghanistan and the mass evacuation of Afghans this summer, Jewish Vocational Service of Kansas City is helping more than 180 Afghan refugees resettle in the Kansas City area.
The refugees started arriving in Kansas City in October after having been vetted and processed on military bases across the country, JVS Executive Director Hilary Cohen Singer said. More than 90 of them arrived in Kansas City the week before Thanksgiving.
Nearly all the Afghan refugees resettled remain in Kansas City, though a few with family in St. Louis then moved there. The refugees include 59 families and 34 individuals.
Because of this influx of Afghan refugees, JVS has served more than 220 refugees in the first two months of its current fiscal year, more than double the number of refugees it served in all of fiscal 2021 (109) and all of fiscal 2020 (88), Singer said. JVS received additional donations specifically to help resettle the recent Afghan refugees.
“There is something about the Afghan situation that has really sparked people’s compassion and willingness to get involved,” she said. “We have had a really tremendous outpouring of support from the community that says we want to specifically support your work with people from Afghanistan.”
JVS typically pays for its refugee resettlement services from its existing budget, which is funded by foundations and individuals. The organization received federal funds to help resettle the recent Afghan refugees — $1,025 per person for rent and utilities, which must be spent within the first 90 days of their arrival, Singer said. The goal is to help the refugees become self-sufficient through employment within that time.
JVS uses staff and contractors to interpret for its clients. In a typical year, clients speak about 25 languages, Singer said. JVS provides several kinds of services to refugees along with help finding jobs. When the organization gets notice that refugees are coming, it rents and furnishes apartments for them or initially reserves hotel rooms, Singer said. Finding housing that refugees can afford after JVS stops providing services can be difficult, said Alissa Fortney-Tombaugh, resettlement services manager for JVS.
JVS Board Members serving dinner on Wednesday, Nov. 17.
In the first 90 days of refugees’ arrivals, JVS also helps them get Social Security cards and job authorization documents, Singer said. It provides physical and mental health screenings and access to a medical case manager and a social work program for therapy. Most of the refugees suffered some degree of trauma, making mental health services especially important.
JVS also helps with school enrollment for children, English as a second language classes and enrollment in social safety net programs to help them integrate into life in the United States. The agency also provides ongoing refugee services, including case management, basic needs, support to find jobs, social work and immigration services.
Not to be overlooked are the services provided that help refugees with day-to-day life, including using a bus, shopping at a grocery store, maintaining personal health and hygiene, learning and abiding by laws and public safety standards, and how to be a good tenant, Fortney-Tombaugh said.
Singer said that because many of the Afghan refugees had risked their lives to help the U.S. military in Afghanistan, “there is a sense of indebtedness” to help them adjust to life in the U.S.
“They have faced persecution… for no other reason than who they are,” she said. “Their very identity puts them at risk and often at risk for their lives. We provide an opportunity for them to have a life of their choosing with freedom and safety and opportunity.”
The Kansas City area is “immeasurably enriched” by refugees “who are joining us as our new neighbors,” Singer said.
“They bring talent, different perspectives, delicious food and labor force input,” she said. “It’s a boon to our economy to have refugees come in, fill vacant jobs and add to the tax base.”
JVS was founded in 1949 and helped Holocaust survivors and refugees who settled in Kansas. That history underscores JVS’s ongoing mission of service to refugees.
“That is our ethos — to help people who’ve been persecuted and help them make their way,” Singer said. “As a Jewish community, we are lucky that there are not large numbers of Jewish people facing persecution and needing refuge right now. But because of our historical experience, it is incumbent on us to offer that same welcome that we received, that my grandparents received when they came here, to offer that to those who need help now.
“It’s also part of our faith tradition to welcome the stranger and to help people achieve self-sufficiency,” she said. “The highest level of charity you can provide is to help people provide for themselves. … This is a core activity for the Jewish community. And it’s important for the Jewish community to engage with the entire community, to come together and build bridges.”
