PROFESSIONAL SOCIETIES 2025 LEADERSHIP AWARDS
EVENT: FEBRUARY 5 AT SHANNA & BRYAN GLAZER JCC
DINNER AT 5:30PM COUVERT $36 PROGRAM AT 7PM
RSVP NECESSARY: MADDY RAMETTA 813.769.4738
Gulf Coast JFCS Calls on Community to Keep Refugee Support Services Going
"This directive to stop is inhumane.
Compassion is in our DNA, it's in our mission, it's in our values." - Dr. Sandra Braham,
Gulf Coast JFCS President & CEO
From teaching our newest refugees arriving from refugee camps how to navigate American homes, to helping families manage public school enrollment, our Refugee Services staff guide newly arrived refugees through their first 90 days of living in Tampa Bay.
As we walk through the first month of this crisis, services continue for 170+ refugees - men, women, and children - with hope the community will support what the federal government has ceased without notice.
We cannot walk away and turn our backs on the refugees and staff we have committed to supporting.
In addition to case management, Refugee Services staff orient all newly arrived refugees to their new living situations to help them live safely and acclimate fully to their new communities.
All were promised safety and the opportunity to become self-sufficient. That promise is now living alongside fear and uncertainty for what lies ahead.
Help Us to Help Them
We are calling on all Tampa Bay residents and humanitarians to help us to help them. They need employment and are eligible to work. Their status as refugees and SIVs grants them an immediate right to work. They need housing. We need support for our workforce so they can assist refugees in meeting their basic needs (enrolling children in school, securing jobs and housing, etc.…).
This manufactured crisis and “pause” does not stop the very real local crisis that is pending if we do nothing, as directed.
Donateto theHope and Dignity Fundto provide for essential needs giving themhope, dignity, and the vital “hand up” needed to uplift their lives through difficult times.
Donateto the Gulf Coast JFCSRefugee Assistance THRIVE Fundwhich will be used to offset housing and related costs for as close to 90 days as possible.
Speakto our federal elected officials and urge Congress to act.
Refugees are not undocumented immigrants, did not enter the United States illegally, and in all cases have been fully vetted, background checked, and “invited” to the United States.
Most of our newly arrived refugees and SIVs were granted entrance into the United States because of their having supported our military during recent wars, or due to extreme and unfavorable conditions in their native country that forced them to flee. Most have spent significant time in refugee camps, waiting for United Nations countries to select them.
It is imperative to end misinformation as to the status of refugees. Gulf Coast JFCS offers several local experts available to answer media and other refugee-related questions by emailingmedia@gcjfcs.org.
Living these values every day, Gulf Coast JFCS' vast array of programs serve diverse populations of all ages, faiths, cultures, and lifestyles across Florida.
Thu, May 1 2025 3 Iyyar 5785
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