February 12 - JFS Weekly Insider

WEEKLY Insider Welcome to the updated Weekly Insider!

We value your feedback and welcome any suggestions to enhance our offering.

FEBRUARY 12TH 2024 ISSUE

JFS FAX PROCEDURE

Since the switch from i-Evolve to MVP for our phone support, the printer is no longer able to send faxes (no, I also don’t quite understand why, it just is).

Due to this, MVP has set up an online fax portal for us to use.

Click on the PDF for full instructions.

JEDI Community Conversation Meeting Recap

On Thursday, Feb 1st and Weds, Feb 7th, a group of eager staff met to have an open conversation about justice, equity, diversity and inclusion.

As part of these meetings, the participants came up with Community Agreements to create a safe space for all who attend. Below are the agreements agreed upon.

If you have any questions, please reach out to Patty Hoyt

Go Paperless on ADP Sick of receiving paper pay statements?

You can log into your ADP profiles and update your status to go paperless for employee pay statements.

1. Click on “Myself” 2. Select “Pay and Statements” 3. Scroll to the bottom and select “Go Paperless.”

JEDI Committee Community Agreements

Stay tuned next week for a survey from the JEDI Planning Committee for feedback as the larger JEDI Committee is formed.

INTRODUCING: THE EMERGENCY TEXTING PROGRAM We are at the time of year where the weather won't cooperate with our office hours.

In order to inform everyone in a timely manner, you will receive info about office delays, closures and security events via text.

Please click here to provide a cell phone number for our emergency texting program.

Choose a number that you have with you and monitor consistently.

(Can't use "I didn't see the text" as an excuse ).

🙂

Return the form to phoyt@jfswny.org by Tuesday, February 13.

WHAT’S HAPPENING IN CAREER SERVICES? By: Jake Moskal, Manager of Career Services

The Career Services Department has been growing. The department now has a Match Grant (MG) Coordinator to run the MG program and an Extended Caseworker Coordinator to help with continued care after the initial resettlement period. We have also hired two transportation specialists to help provide transportation to clients at the Meadows with rides to work. The department will be up to a total of 11 people including the Career Services Manager by the end of February. We are currently offering services for individuals with disabilities, refugee employment and case management services and career counseling for the general public.

Our ACCES VR (Adult Continuing Career and Education Services- Vocational Rehabilitation) grant (5 year award) was recently renewed which will allow us to continue to provide employment services to individuals with disabilities. Our NYSERSP (NEW YORK STATE ENHANCED SERVICES TO REFUGEES PROGRAM) (5 year grant) grant was also recently renewed which will allow us to continue to serve refugee’s and provide emergency relief assistance. Our Match Grant program is continuing for fiscal year 2024 and we are still actively enrolling clients.

Our NRPP (Enhanced Services for Refugees from Nauru and Papua New Guinea) program will be coming to an end in the middle of the year. We are currently waiting for a new RSSP (Refugee Support Services Program) contract.

Depending on the outcome of this contract the department may continue to grow to offer employment and extended case services work to our clients. We also have a career counselor that provides career counseling to the general public.

All of our programs are focused on helping our clients reach self sufficiency. If anyone has any employers looking to work with JFS please have them contact the Career Services Manager.

RENOVATION UPDATE We can’t wait to be in our new space. In anticipation of reopening, we wanted to provide an update to the staff about when to expect Barker Street to reopen.

At this time, the anticipated reopen date has been moved to mid-spring.

Keep an eye out for future update in the Insider!

COMMUNITY EDUCATION GRADUATION CEREMONY By: Oksana Protsuk, Community Education On January 26, 2024, Community Education department was happy to host a Graduation Ceremony for 4 parenting groups. Between these groups there were 37 moms who came from different parts of the world speaking 6 different languages, including Arabic, Dari, English, Rohingya, Spanish, and Ukrainian. For 14 weeks these women were meeting in person or online, learning about different strategies of raising children, making friends, learning their way to better parenting and happier families.

We always encourage our group participants to involve other adults, caregivers, family members, and friends in their learning process.

One of our Arabic moms said: “I used all strategies and I saw amazing results with my kids and my sister's kids too, because my sister used to call me every Friday after the session to ask me about what I learned to practice with her kids. I love this training!”

A Dari mom said: “Now I know not only my children, but I also better understand myself because I learned selfcontrol… We have learned how to discipline our children in a positive way and praise them for their good behaviors.”

Another mom from our English group said: “I feel different looking at my children now. I’m happier and we spend more time playing together.”

This event couldn’t have happened without the help of numerous volunteers. We are grateful to all of them!

JFS Family Support Team. Making the world a happier place, one family at a time!

Graduates from the Community Education Graduation Ceremony

REFUGEES WELCOMED DURING SNOWSTORM By: Meghann Rumpf Perry, Director of Community Programs

No snowstorm will stop our resettlement crews!

Buffalo and Niagara Falls teams welcomed 26 refugees on Friday, January 19th following a week of snow and canceled flights.

These families from the Congo and Pakistan received a warm welcome to Buffalo despite the snow.

Thank you to Ensie, Rodgers, Rashid, Khalid, Ahmed, Emily C., Frank, and Andrew for their dedication to our work!

Thanks to our Amazing Volunteers!

A volunteer appreciation event will be hosted on February 15th between 11am and 1pm at the Crane branch of Buffalo Public library.

The address is 633 Elmwood Ave and the event will be on the second floor.

Please join us to say thank you and celebrate all of the amazing volunteers here at JFS !

REMEMBER TO COMPLETE THE CLEANING SURVEY! For those that have completed the Quarterly Facility Cleaning cleaning survey, thank you!

If you haven’t yet, please complete the survey here. Your input is important in maintaining great facilities!

OPEN JOBS

Refer a new employee and get a bonus!

Every two weeks, JFS staff receives an email titled, "Job Referral Opportunities."

To ensure that you receive credit for the referral, make sure that the applicant either uses the links provided in the email or lists your name as the referring party.

Click here for all the open positions at JFS.

2/14 - Emily Craven, NF Resettlement 2/15 - Omari Etando, RICH

Virtual Mind/Body Yoga Series November thru February Learn more & register for Mon evening sessions Learn more & register for Weds morning sessions

REGISTER FOR MONDAY

REGISTER FOR WEDNESDAY

Insider Contributors: Meghan Stith Molly Carr Oksana Protsuk Todd Warfield Sierra Johnston

Jennifer McNamara Lauren Maguire Dasha Valuyskaya

Meghann Rumpf Perry Dalaina Howell Jake Moskal Patty Hoyt Jill Gavin

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