Chesed

WSM is supporting an Afghan family coming to resettle here in Boston.

CLICK HERE: to donate directly. (In the dropdown menu for donation type, please choose WSM Afghan Family Support Fund.)

CLICK HERE to volunteer.

You’ve all heard the news and seen the pictures. We can mostly only imagine what it has meant for these Afghani families to pick up with little notice to leave the homes, family and communities they have known all their lives to become “strangers in a strange land.”  Many of us have felt powerless in the face of this suffering. Washington Square Minyan has committed to welcoming and supporting one of these families who will be arriving in the next few weeks and this a chance to really make a difference in the experience of this refugee family. We know you have many important causes to support. This is an opportunity to see your donation play a role in a family’s start on a new life. 

The families we are planning to welcome are being classified as humanitarian parolees and as such are not entitled to the same level of government aid that refugees have access to.  While there is some philanthropic backing to support resettling these families, by adopting a family we are committing to raise $15,000 to help pay for rent and other household essentials during their first year here in Boston. We have already secured an apartment for the family and Catholic Charities wrote a check for first, last, and security deposit. So if just 50 people commit to $150 or 100 commit to $75 we will be halfway there!

We are asking for your generosity to support this family as they await their permit to work (after which we will continue to supplement their rent and help with other necessities of life).  We will also be collecting donations of goods at a later date, based on the particular needs of the family. Even if you are unable to contribute monetarily at this time, we hope you will consider sharing this worthy cause with your network so that this family gets the support they need.

CLICK HERE: to donate directly. In the dropdown menu for donation type, please choose WSM Afghan Family Support Fund.

Tizku l'mitzvot, 

Kathy Jungreis, Becca Sendor-Israel, and Judith Marks

chesed@wsminyan.org