Hias Welcome Campaign
Welcoming the Stranger
In December 2016, Ohr Kodesh joined the HIAS Welcome program and committed to actively engage in refugee issues and demonstrate our support in a meaningful way through education, advocacy and volunteering.
With the Good Neighbors Program, OKC and a group of local synagogues and churches, agreeing to sponsor an immigrant or refugee family to promote and support independence and self-sufficiency. Partnering with Lutheran Social Services, the local resettlement agency, OKC agreed to a six-month commitment to furnish an apartment and assist a family with basic needs and orientation into their new home. A tremendous team of volunteers coalesced to meet the challenge.
In August 2017, a family of four arrived from Iraq. The father had worked for the US Army Corp of Engineers as a translator, thereby qualifying the family for Special Immigrant Visas (albeit after a long five years of extensive vetting). We managed to fundraise, furnish an apartment, and assist the family with health and dental care, school enrollment, English language tutoring, employment, obtaining drivers licenses, car seats, baby clothes, and financial budgeting/banking. The family welcomed a new baby girl in January 2018.
Today, both parents are gainfully employed, their children are thriving in elementary school and childcare, and they have been able to move to Montgomery County. This family has become more than a social action project, with many members developing deep long-term relationships that continue to grow and thrive.
This endeavor has allowed Ohr Kodesh to live the values of welcoming the stranger and reap the very personal and real benefits of these values.
For more information on how to be involved, contact Lisa Kleppel.
Mon, March 18 2024
8 Adar II 5784
Upcoming Events
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Thursday ,
MarMarch 21 , 2024
Thursday, Mar 21st (All day)
Co-sponsored by Ohr Kodesh Congregation On Zoom More information soon. -
Thursday ,
MarMarch 21 , 2024OKC Evening Book Group
Thursday, Mar 21st 8:30pm to 9:30pm
An intergenerational gathering place for readers. Open to the entire OKC community. -
Friday ,
MarMarch 22 , 2024HAZAK Josiah Henson Museum Tour
Friday, Mar 22nd 1:00pm to 4:00pm
This trip will focus on the changes necessary to embrace freedom and our commitment to freedom as a basic foundational human right in our Jewish tradition. -
Sunday ,
MarMarch 24 , 2024
Sunday, Mar 24th 10:45am to 12:30pm
The Purim Carnival opens at 10:45 am for 2nd grade and under and at 11:15 am for general admission. Pre-registration closes on March 20.
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