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"My name is Safia. I came here in 2021, so I have been working with JFS for 4 years. In 2021, many refugees came to Michigan at the same time, so JFS had to support a lot of people all at once. When we got to Michigan, the IOM sent us to JFS. JFS picked us up from the airport. We did not know anything about Michigan and were very unfamiliar with the state.
"JFS helped us settle into a temporary hotel stay for two months. It was a difficult transition for us because there was no community around us. We were there with 6 children. Since the room had a kitchenette, JFS would deliver groceries to us every Thursday. Before coming to Michigan, we were in Virginia, and unable to cook for ourselves. Now we were able to cook the groceries to our liking, with our own spices. "JFS volunteers would deliver our groceries. One day I decided to invite them in for a cup of tea, as that is important in my culture. We got to know these volunteers and they left and came back an hour after with many toys for our kids. This volunteer is now my best American friend and even attended the birth of my youngest child. She now has the title of Grandma to that child, in our culture. After 2 months, JFS assisted us in renting our first home in Ann Arbor. When we moved closer to the office, we joined many programs and finally found our community. I joined the Women’s Empowerment Program and was even hired as the Community Facilitator for the program, where I would translate lesson plans provided by JFS to Dari and help teach the class. I was a teacher back in Afghanistan, so it was really nice to get back to teaching. "I became close with the group, and now they always invite me to their parties. I learned to teach via zoom, which was a good challenge. I also joined the refugee garden program where I met many families, and we love to spend time together at the garden. JFS has helped not just my family, but so many refugees with everything from doctor's appointment, transportation, enrolling children in school, renting homes, groceries and bringing us together as a community. I want to say thank you to JFS and stress how important these services are for newcomer refugees. I do what I can to support incoming refugees, and I hope JFS can continue to provide for them like they did for my family and friends." |
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JFS HEADQUARTERS 2245 S. State St, Ann Arbor, MI 48104 P: 734.769.0209 F: 734.769.0224 [email protected] Hours of Operation: M-Th 9am-5pm; Fr 9am-3pm EIN: 41-2147486 |
