Providing refugees with a new beginning
In the past year, JFS has resettled 153 refugees from across the world, including those forced to flee their homelands due to economic hardship and persecution from countries such as Ukraine, Afghanistan, El Salvador, and the Democratic Republic of Congo.
JFS is a permanent Reception & Placement agency working in partnership with HIAS, the Global Jewish Organization for Refugees. Together, we provide vital services to refugees so they can rebuild their lives.
For clients like David, who fled from Uganda and arrived in the United States this past July, JFS is the promise of a new beginning and validation that a change may be just down the road.
When David arrived at Denver International Airport, his heart was overflowing with gratitude, having been met by JFS staff and reunited with his family, who had resettled here earlier, including his sister, her husband, and their children. Most of all, he was excited about his new life in Colorado.
JFS helped David by providing:
Safe housing with furniture, household goods, appliances, and more (a home where he still resides today).
Job search coaching and guidance through the hiring process and onboarding phase.
Support with cultural orientation, learning the bus system, and getting a driver’s license.
Financial assistance for rent and other monthly bills.
Nutritious and healthy food from the Weinberg Food Pantry to make ends meet without sacrificing his health and well-being.
David spoke English well, having learned it in school, and he was a truck driver and mechanic in his home country. While he was incredibly motivated to find a job as soon as he arrived, David could not find a job here in either of those areas. After two months of job hunting, David began working at Amazon’s warehouse facility. He has subsequently received a promotion and a cash bonus. David is now a full-time Amazon delivery driver, working his requested five 10-hour shifts each week—and he loves his job, co-workers, and manager. It’s not unusual for him to make 160 stops each day, delivering 250 packages!
“We need to take care of each other,” shared David, “I’ve been helped, so I help when I can.”
David practices that belief every day. When his supervisor mentioned they needed more drivers, David reached out to a friend looking for a job, and now that gentleman is employed by Amazon. When he saw a mother with her baby asking for money in front of a food store, David realized she didn’t speak English when he asked what he could buy for them, so he mimed eating and brought her inside to shop. When he comes across those who need a hand asking for money on corners, David helps. He does this because he is grateful to JFS and appreciative of everything the agency has done for him.
“Sometimes I sit in my home, stop and think, and wonder if this is really my life. JFS is like building a foundation on a house—my foundation for a new life. I have a house, a job, a car – everything in my new life is because of JFS,” shared David.
You can help JFS build more foundations for new lives by donating to our Yana Vishnitsky Refugee Resettlement program.