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.
Tue, December 5 2023
22 Kislev 5784
Upcoming Events
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Tuesday ,
DecDecember 5 , 2023HAZAK Lunch and Learn: "Where the Lilacs Bloom Again"
Tuesday, Dec 5th 11:30am to 1:00pm
Conversation with with Roni Rosenthal about the survival of the Jews of Romania. Join here: https://us02web.zoom.us/j/85085843300 -
Wednesday ,
DecDecember 6 , 2023OKC Daytime Book Club
Wednesday, Dec 6th 12:00pm to 1:30pm
Themes of the the shtetl and pre-Holocaust Poland, of economic and political oppression, and of the upheavals that would herald a new Jewish national and political awakening. -
Tuesday ,
DecDecember 12 , 2023Latke Frying for OKC Middle Schoolers
Tuesday, Dec 12th 5:00pm to 7:00pm
Calling all Middle School Students! Hang out and fry up some latkes with us! Cost is $5 per student -
Tuesday ,
DecDecember 12 , 202350s and 60s Chavurah
Tuesday, Dec 12th 7:00pm to 9:00pm
Dinner, study and discussion of our complex identities .
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