February 19 - JFS Weekly Insider

Insider

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

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”

“Pay and Statements”

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2. Scroll to the bottom and select “Go Paperless ”

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!

Stay Tuned for the JEDI Survey

Next week, please be on the lookout for the survey from the JEDI Planning Committee. The survey is designed to make JFS a more inclusive place. Your feedback is very important!

WHAT IS PURIM KATAN?

By: Rabbi Yonina Foster, Jewish Community Engagement Specialist

Purim Katan, or “Small Lots,” the day marked for the death of the Jews in 5th Century BCE Persia begins this year the evening of Friday, February 23rd, the 14th day in the Hebrew month Adar I. The days of a lunar calendar are shorter than a solar year and every two or three years we add a leap year to maintain our holidays in the correct season From historic times an entire month was added at the end of our calendar year to make the adjustment Thus we have Adar I and II Since we want every opportunity to perform a mitzvah, actions of justice like feeding the poor and helping the needy, we acknowledge small Purim in Adar I We will celebrate the actual holiday in Adar II, this year beginning, Saturday evening March 23rd, closer to Passover, our Spring holiday of redemption from Egypt

Those interested in JEDI may find this holiday of Purim particularly interesting The Purim story is one of justice, equity, diversity, and inclusion The Jews were marked for death because of Mordechai, a Jewish man who served the King He was unwilling to bow down to an evil man, Haman His cousin, the Queen, went before the King at great risk, with great courage, to reveal her Jewish identity and save her people

WHAT’S HAPPENING IN LEADERSHIP, DIRECTOR-LEVEL & SR MANAGEMENT?

By: Meghan Stith, Executive Administrator

As JFS continues to grow, Administration ebbs and flows to adjust to changes.

As announced earlier this year, Lauren Maguire was promoted to the position of VP of Development & Community Engagement. Sierra Johnston was promoted to senior management level and divisions continue to be built out.

The Insider is dedicated to continue to provide you with structural changes as they

happen. Stay tuned for more details on HR, Finance and Operations, Development and Community Engagement and more!

ROOTS/SHORASHIM/JUDUR

Join two unlikely partners for peace, as they share personal stories of transformation and insights born of meeting one another.

Roots, (Shorashim in Hebrew and Judur in Arabic) is an IsraeliPalestinian grassroots initiative that fosters understanding, respect, nonviolence and appreciation between national identities. This is part of their national month-long tour.

Register required for this in-person event: www.bit.ly/2024RootsEvent

Please contact mara@buffalojewishfederation.org for questions.

Organization Chart of Leadership to Senior Management

ADVOCACY IN ACTION

By: Bijoux Bahati, Manager of TST-R

From Sunday, January 21st to Tuesday, January 23rd, Danielle, Bijoux, and Adam from RICH had the opportunity to attend the 7th Annual New York Immigration Coalition Member Congress in Albany. As one of many NYIC member organizations, JFS of WNY was well represented among others from the Western New York region

It was a three-day advocacy and lobbying event at the Capitol to meet with fellow NYS immigrant advocates and state representatives to discuss three budget priorities and two legislative priorities regarding immigrants and immigrant’s rights;

the Campaign for Access, Representation, and Equity (CARE) for Immigrant Families (Access to Representation Act), Language Access, Housing Access, New York for All Act, and the Working Families Tax Credit Act.

All these priorities affect the work that we do here at JFS. From language access and housing struggles to financial dependence and lack of legal representation, these priorities affect the communities for which we provide direct service. Oftentimes, we see the rights of immigrants and refugees from a provider viewpoint, where we are humanitarian-focused more than politically or financially driven. The conference in Albany demonstrated the continuous advocacy happening behind and in front of the scenes to secure rights for immigrants and refugees. It’s eye opening to see the constant advocacy needed.

The energy, dedication, and fight for the rights of others was demonstrated beautifully by the more than 100+ participants from all over New York State, all unified behind the banner of immigrant’s rights Hearing the reverberating echoes of, “Say it loud! Say it clear! Immigrants are welcome here!” around the Capitol building was powerful. Looking around at most of the participants at the conference, hearing the multitude of languages, one could see that New York is a state of immigrants; immigrants and their supporters who will fight for justice, representation, accessibility, and the rights of all.

Led by Murad Awawdeh, the son of Palestinian immigrants, the New York Immigration Coalition has been fighting for immigrants’ rights for over 35 years. Check out nyic.org to read more on their work.

JFS staff at the 7th Annual New York Immigration Coalition Member Congress in Albany

November thru February

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REGISTER FOR MONDAY

REGISTER FOR WEDNESDAY

Presidents' Day, in the United States, holiday (third Monday in February) popularly recognized as honoring George Washington and Abraham Lincoln.

The day is sometimes understood as a celebration of the birthdays and lives of all U.S. presidents.

Correction from February 12th Insider

Juan Candelaria Vasquez is a Spanish Cultural Broker for TST-R, not a Resettlement Manager for Buffalo.

Meghan Stith

Molly Carr

Sierra Johnston

Insider Contributors:

Jennifer McNamara

Lauren Maguire

Danielle Bernas

Bijoux Bahati

Dalaina Howell

Rabbi Yonina Foster

Megan Brenner-Zwara

Have an idea for the Insider? Want to submit an article? Want to promote an event? Submit your ideas here!