JCOR - Jewish Congregations Organized for Resettlement

Looking Forward with JCOR

Jewish Congregations Organized for Resettlement (JCOR), the all-volunteer Jewish community collaboration that includes our Congregation—in partnership with Jewish Family Services of Washtenaw County—is excited to report that our very successful and fulfilling first year will be complete in the middle of August! 

And now JCOR is planning to co-sponsor with JFS a new refugee family.  To make this possible, JCOR must raise approximately $7,000 initially to get the new family settled in, with a goal of $20,000 for the full year to underwrite the co-sponsorship obligations.  Generous donors made it possible for JCOR to help the current family.  Our incoming refugee family needs that same help now.  Federation provides fiduciary services to JCOR, and donations to JCOR can be made on their secure website.

Two additional opportunities to lend support are coming up fairly soon.  On September 10 at JCC’s Apples & Honey, the Kona Ice truck will donate a portion of their sales to JCOR.  On October 22, the community is invited to JCOR’s “Folk with a Klezmer Accent” fundraising concert featuring well-known local talent.

As individuals and as a Congregation we can help support the aspirations of the next refugee family.  Please consider adding JCOR to our synagogue and your household charitable-giving allocations.  Contact JCOR at jcorannarbor@gmail.com if you have or know of affordable housing that will be available by early fall; or if you or someone you know can communicate in Spanish or French, Tigrinya or Kituba, Farsi or Dari, Arabic, Ukrainian, or another language. 

Please consider joining JCOR’s all-volunteer corps.  This is a wonderful opportunity for all of us to seek to better the world, to express Tikkun Olam in ways that our interests and skills guide us to.  Information about the teams and a volunteer sign-up form are available at JCORAnnArbor.org.  

And, finally, we want to share a brief update on JCOR’s Colombian refugee family who arrived in Ann Arbor in mid-August 2022.  Now, twelve months in, both parents are fully employed, both children have completed their first year of school in the United States in good form and planning for the first day of classes in late-August. The father has earned a driver’s license, and the family has purchased a (used) car, which saves $700/month that previously paid for contracted transportation to and from work.  The family has completed their first year in the U.S.—both financially and operationally independent.

Thank you for your support and interest in JCOR.  Contact Michael Appel and Deborah Greene, our representatives to JCOR for more information.  

About JCOR: Jewish Congregations Organized for Resettlement is a participant in JFS’ refugee Co-Sponsorship Program. JCOR member congregations are Ann Arbor Orthodox Minyan, Ann Arbor Reconstructionist Congregation, Beth Israel Congregation, Jewish Cultural Society, Pardes Hannah, and Temple Beth Emeth, with administrative assistance from the Jewish Federation of Greater Ann Arbor.  JCOR’s goal is to help refugee newcomers become our independent neighbors over the course of their first year. 

PILLAR AWARD

Beth Israel Congregation is honored to be recognized, as a participating member of Jewish Congregations Organized for Resettlement, in the Jewish Federation of Greater Ann Arbor's inaugural PILLAR Award which recognizes Exemplary Philanthropy, Engagement and Covening.  Jewish Family Services of Washtenaw County was JCOR's co-recipient of the Award.

JCOR in the News!  

> Washtenaw Jewish News, June 2023

> Detroit Jewish News, March 20, 2023

> Washtenaw Jewish News, March 2023, page 15

JCOR Has a Website!  JCORANNARBOR.ORG
In October, JCOR volunteers built and launched the new JCOR website, jcorannarbor.org.  This valuable tool helps JCOR member congregations and volunteers stay connected and informed.  The page also provides an easy pathway for the broader community to learn about JCOR and for potential volunteers and donors to make contact.  Now that it’s built, we need a volunteer or two to keep it current.  This is a tech, not writing role; all content will be provided.  Please consider if you, or someone you know, might be able to fill this critical need.

JCOR is a collaboration among Beth Israel Congregation; Ann Arbor Orthodox Minyan; Ann Arbor Reconstructionist Congregation; Jewish Cultural Society; Pardes Hannah; Temple Beth Emeth; and the Jewish Federation of Greater Ann Arbor, which provides fiduciary oversight for all funds donated and disbursed in support of JCOR. We are grateful to the volunteers, donors, and Boards of Directors of these congregations who collectively make JCOR possible, and we look forward to the next exciting steps in this critical and joyous expression of Tikkun Olam.

Beth Israel's JCOR Co-Leads,

Michael Appel, mappel1961@gmail.com & Deborah Greene, greenedm@umich.edu

Original Information:

Most of our family histories include stories of caring people who stepped up to help our great-grandparents, grandparents, or parents resettle in this country. Today we are challenged to step up and help another generation of refugees.

You have seen the news: The United States initially expected to admit 125,000 refugees this year. Then 80,000 more arrived from Afghanistan. Now, an additional 100,000 Ukrainian refugees are expected.

Jewish Family Services (JFS) is working tirelessly to do its share here in Washtenaw County and is requesting OUR help.  

To this end, representatives from Beth Israel Congregation, Temple Beth Emeth, the Jewish Cultural Society, the Ann Arbor Reconstructionist Congregation, Pardes Hannah, and the Ann Arbor Orthodox Minyan have come together to form Jewish Congregations Organized for Resettlement (JCOR), whose purpose is to support resettlement of a refugee family. Also, the Jewish Federation of Greater Ann Arbor will provide fiduciary oversight for all funds donated and disbursed in support of this purpose. And now we need YOU!

Volunteers are needed for committees that will work in partnership with JFS staff to help refugee family members reestablish their independent lives here and orient to American culture. With training from JFS staff, we will do this by helping refugees with: housing, transportation, and employment; healthcare and financial planning; and childcare, schooling, and adult ESL classes as necessary. We also need a cadre of on-call volunteers to help with short-notice critical needs, like last-minute transportation or child care coverage. 

Altogether, we are seeking 30 to 50 volunteers, who can be available up to three hours per week during the first two months after the family’s arrival. The time commitments will decrease gradually as the family members become more independent during their first year in the United States.

Of course, we need help with fundraising. JFS recommends collecting $7,000 to $20,000 over the course of the family’s first year. Of this, $4,000 should be available upon the family’s arrival to help cover initial costs. 

No one congregation will be singularly responsible or individually committed to provide a specific number of volunteers or a specific amount of funding. But we believe that collectively our Jewish Community can make a difference for our new arrivals and help JFS meet its decades-long dedication to resettlement.

Visit the JCOR online volunteer sign-up form, where you can choose the team in which your expertise, your experience, and your passion for Tikkun Olam will have the greatest impact. Click here to access the volunteer sign-up form. 

Additionally, all JCOR volunteers will complete the JFS volunteer form which will facilitate the required background check for all JCOR volunteers. Please complete the JFS form now.

Click here to access the secure Federation/JCOR donation website.

Thank you! The family members we help resettle today will be the grandparents of tomorrow. As a volunteer in this effort, YOU will make a difference to their future generations!

For more information, please contact:

Ann Arbor Orthodox Minyan:
Fruma Taub, frumataub@gmail.com
Charles Weaver, weaverchas@gmail.com

Beth Israel Congregation:
Michael Appel at mappel1961@gmail.com
Deborah Greene at greenedm@umich.edu

Jewish Cultural Society:
Julie Gales, jgales@mindspring.com

Pardes Hannah:
Linda Jo Doctor at linda.jo.doctor@gmail.com

Ann Arbor Reconstructionist Congregation:
Alice Mishkin at alice.mishkin@gmail.com

Temple Beth Emeth:
Midge Cone at midgelipmancone@gmail.com
Lauren Gold at laurengoldmd@yahoo.com

Or email: JCORAnnArbor@gmail.com