THE INSIDER
INFO FROM CEO MOLLY CAR FOR STAFF PICNIC AT BEAVER ISLAND
JFS Team,
We are so looking forward to being with you in August at the annual Board/Staff retreat. Just some points of clarification for everyone to plan for the day.
This year’s picnic is only for staff. We are not extending to the entire family While we love to see the kiddos, we also recognize that the agency has grown and we cannot accommodate all the staff, board, and their families this year.
The picnic is a required work event. If you choose to take PTO it will be for the full workday.
Since the location of work for the day is Beaver Island, you will only be reimbursed for the park entry fee. I encourage everyone to carpool to reduce both our carbon footprint and the use of parking spaces on Beaver Island.
Finally, we will have food trucks again this year for the lunch meal and dessert. If you require a special food accommodation, I encourage you to reach out to Kara Kane to ensure that food Is available for you at the picnic.
Make sure to bring your sunblock, beach towel, and comfortable shoes for a nice relaxing picnic at the beach.
GIVE716 DAY RECAP!
That’s a wrap on Give716 Day 2024! This year, JFS was one of over 600 teams participating in the community-wide giving event and we were lucky enough to raise nearly $1,700 from donations and an additional $1,000 in grants through Give716. In total, JFS will receive about $2,700 toward our Family Support Fund Thank you to everyone who made this year’s fundraiser a success and we can’t wait for Give716 Day 2025!
MONDAY, JULY 22, 2024
JFS VOLUNTEERS WALK MEADOWS RESIDENTS TO PUBLIC LIBRARY
By: Madison Ruffo
On Friday, July 12, several JFS volunteers and interns met at The Meadows to assist residents in applying for Erie County Public Library cards and then walked them to the library where they received a tour of the Amherst branch.
While it was a scorching hot day – residents were happy to get out into the community and learn about such a helpful resource. From standard book rentals to computer access to helping understand bus routes – the library and its staff truly provide so many useful tools for all residents in the area, including newly resettled refugees like those at The Meadows
“I love the library, so it’s exciting to share my love of the library and provide clients access to such a useful community resource,” said JFS Volunteer Services Manager Emily Wirth.
The librarians took the residents, volunteers, and staff on a tour around the library – showing the array of offerings the branch had for their local community The librarians even said their branch offers one-on-one ENL tutoring right in house – that was a favorite of those in attendance. For the four residents there who spoke Spanish – they printed out library card applications in Spanish for them and one of our interns, Aaron, acted as a translator for the group. This was extremely helpful as one of the couples who joined had just arrived in the United States two days prior!
There was one couple that attended and, while perusing the offerings at the library, the wife took interest in some bejeweled bookmarks for sale at the check out desk. As we returned to the community room, she wondered where her husband was and, just at that moment, he returned with the exact bookmark his wife wanted and gave it to her as he sat down.
During the tour, a Somalian resident and a Burmese resident – who both came alone to this event – really connected on the tour even without a shared language
The residents in attendance, despite their language barriers, found a way to connect with the volunteers and with each other! From Venezuela to Somalia all the way to Burma – these residents may have spoken different languages and come from all different backgrounds, but they had one crucial thing in common: they were happy to be there and happy to have the opportunity to learn about and participate in their community.
MONDAY, JULY 22, 2024
COMMUNITY EDUCATION COMPLETES ANOTHER WOMEN’S EMPOWERMENT PROGRAM
By: Salima Panahzada
The Community Education department recently completed our second round of the Women’s Empowerment program, this time facilitated with support from our partner organization Afghan New Generation. The group served 11 women from Afghanistan and covered six different topics over 15 weeks: Cultural Orientation, Digital Literacy, Professional Development, Women’s Health, Whole Health, Wellbeing, and Resilience, and Safety and Protection.
Following a person-centered approach, the Women’s Empowerment program starts by guiding each participant through a goal-setting process Improving their English skills was a common goal across every woman in the group this round, so I connected with our JFS’ Adult Education Specialist, Anthony DiGesare, and got all 11 women enrolled in online ESL classes run by RISE. The program also helped three women with paperwork and interpretation at the DMV and, as a result, all three women received their learner’s permits. The program also covered the costs for eight of the women to enroll in Drivers Education through City A1 Driving School, where a Dari-speaking instructor works on staff. Since then, one woman has already passed her road test and earned her driver’s license! “I am happy, I am happy,” she exclaimed to me, so excited that she lost all other words in the moment The other seven women all have their road tests scheduled for this Summer. The program also connected women to the Pathways Program at International Institute of Buffalo to certify their degrees, the Priscilla Project at JRCHC, Stitch Buffalo, Neighborhood Legal Services, and JFS’ own RICH team.
Many women in the group shared that the program enabled them to be an advocate for themselves and to their families after learning about their rights and available resources
“I really feel good,” “I feel so powerful,” and “I feel more confident and I trust in myself,” are all things the women shared with us during their time in the program. One woman thanked JFS by saying “All the groups I’ve participated in are useful, but the Women’s Empowerment group was great because I got to set goals and work on them during the program. I used to stress about my family back home in Afghanistan – it took all my mental energy and caused me a lot of stress This program really helped me to focus on my goals and reduce my stress.”
MONDAY, JULY 22, 2024
COMMUNITY EDUCATION COMPLETES ANOTHER WOMEN’S EMPOWERMENT PROGRAM (CONTINUED)
By: Salima Panahzada
One of the highlights of the program was when Robabeh Ghorbanzadeh, the vice-president of Afghan New Generation, led a session on professional development. “When Ms. Robabeh shared her experience about her education, it was very inspiring for me. I thought, ‘if Robabeh, who has three kids, got her degree, why not me?’”
Another client told us ” You guys are my saviors. I spent about a year in Washington DC and another year in Buffalo and having work experience and a degree from home made me even more isolated here. I was very confused and didn’t know where to start. I joined the Women’s Empowerment group, which connected me to the Pathways Program at IIB, and now I am very hopeful for my future,” adding, “The day that I was introduced to Salima and was added to the Afghan Women WhatsApp group was one of the best events of my life.”
We look forward to running another Women’s Empowerment group in the year to come!
WHAT’S HAPPENING IN RICH?
RICH PSS STAFF OBTAIN LICENSURES!
By: Danielle Bernas
RICH is excited to share that all staff in our Psychosocial Support Programming have obtained their licensure, a new goal that was proposed for 2024. Congratulations Sydney, Meg, and La-Verne on becoming Licensed Masters of Social Work (LMSW) and for your dedication and contributions to the program Psychosocial Support Services has been an integral component our of mental health services in RICH and now can diagnose under the supervision of a Licensed Clinical Social Worker.
RICH now has 6 LMSW’s throughout its programming and is quickly becoming a central location for mental health services for the refugee and immigrant community in WNY. Additional licensed staff also allows for additional supervision of interns that are seeking learning opportunities through RICH and JFS.
By: Danielle Bernas
RICH has started a meditation series every Monday from 12:30-1:00pm led by Danielle, Director of RICH. All are welcome to join Meditations vary from breathing exercises to body scanning to guided visualization. Others are welcome to lead sessions. Please email Danielle if you would like to lead a session. All sessions are virtual and can be joined at the following link:
MONDAY, JULY 22, 2024
REFLECTION ON REFUGEE YOUTH SERVICES
By: Maryam Masoud, Cultural Broker for the Afghan Community
When I graduated last year, I was looking for an opportunity that would allow me to do what I love and enjoy the most - serving people. By becoming a Cultural Broker, I am blessed to be doing exactly that in several different ways. My team and I are implementing a social-emotional model, Trauma Systems Therapy for Refugees (TST-R), designed to provide culturally responsive and trauma-informed care to refugee youth across four different tiers of service The first tier is community engagement and outreach, the second tier is facilitating skills-based groups, the third tier is counseling, and the fourth tier is focused on providing beyond trauma services.
Being a refugee myself, I feel strongly about the refugee community and the services they need to help them establish themselves. However, I feel even more strongly for refugee youth, who often do not receive the same level of recognition and support for their pre- and post-migration traumas and struggles as adults. Therefore, this model of care is crucial and invaluable for them as it helps tackle the social and environmental stressors they face and gives them the foundation to thrive in their new communities. I am very grateful to be part of such an important and impactful work.
Looking forward to sharing more about my journey :)
Please Note: the TST-R team conduct cultural trainings in relations to refugee trauma, mental health and acculturation. Reach out if you are interested in hosting a panel discussion on “Cultures of Mental Health” with your team Currently we have DRC, Afghan, Spanish and Arabic with two mental health clinicians on staff. Reach out to Bijoux Bahati, TST-R Manager at bbahati@jfswny.org for inquiry
NEW OPERATIONS REQUEST FORM
Do you have a tabling event coming up and need of marketing materials? What about a replacement badge or parking tag? If you’re not sure where to go for these sorts of requests, check out the new Operations Request Form to see if JFS’ Operations Team can assist you! For questions, email Patty Hoyt at phoyt@jfswny.org.
PARENTING GROUP GRADUATION!
By: Oksana Protsuk
On June 21, 2024, the JFS Family Support Team held a small graduation ceremony for two of our Spring parent groups with a total of 14 moms. Both groups took a special place in our hearts for a few reasons!
One group was our first ever Incredible Years (IY) parenting group in Swahili, facilitated with support from our Swahili Community Laision, Shamim Hamza. Adding Swahili into the mix means we are now able to offer IY in 7 different languages (not including Kirundi and Kinyarwanda, which Shamim also speaks)
The other group represented our first ever Tuning into Teens group, which we waited patiently for and engaged 11 mothers from the Arabic speaking community. Tuning into Teens (TINT) is an evidence-based curriculum out of University of Melbourne in Australia and is focused on teaching parents & caregivers emotion coaching skills for use with adolescents ages 10-18. Focused specifically on the developmental needs of teenagers, TINT is shown to improve parent-teen relationships and adolescent mental health. The new curriculum, led and supported by our Arabic Community Liaisons, Nada Al-Batshan and Nourah Ali, was very well received by the parents we worked with, and we’ve since begun our second TINT group with 11 Afghan mothers, led by Family Support Specialist Salima Panahzada. This new Dari TINT group will run through the end of the summer, in preparation for a collaboration with the RICH team for round two of the Raising Teens in a New Country programming
Of the many highlights of the graduation, one that brought many to tears was the moment when we awarded a certificate of completion to a mother from the Swahili group, who responded by saying, “I have seven children and this is the first certificate I ever received in my life,” to which another mother, from the Arabic group, stood up and replied, “Me too.” The pride and joy in the room was palpable, and the interaction was followed by lots of hugs and warm words
MONDAY, JULY 22, 2024
PARENTING GROUP GRADUATION! (CONTINUED)
By: Oksana Protsuk
Here's a peek at what some of the other program graduates had to say:
“I’m so grateful for this program and all the support I get. This program opened my eyes, opened my mind. I provide time for my kids now. Before I was busy, but now I’m there for my kids when they need me.” “I have two girls and one boy - two of them teenagers. Before this program, my teenagers’ moods drove me crazy My 14YO always said I hate you, never let me hug or kiss her. But this program gave me so many strategies. Now as soon as she comes from school, I ask her about her day and her feelings. I used to just forget about her - not ask her about her day or pay much attention to her. Now as soon as she comes home, I drop everything and sit with her. Now she talks with me. Now she always hugs me, kisses me, hugs me. Now she says, “Mom I love you, I love you too much.”
“I participated in this program before COVID, back when Asal was running it, then took another course with Jill, and now Nada. I’ve learned so much, like I’ve gone from 20 to 100. I got so excited when I learned about this program, and it opened our eyes to a lot of things we never thought about. We’ve become more patient with our kids. We can control ourselves when we get angry, and use the relaxation exercises we learned.”
“I’ve learned so many ideas from the other parents in my group and from my group leader, Nada. I figured it out that the more strict I am with my daughter and push her, it pushes her away. It doesn’t make her closer to me.”
“The way we were raised in our countries, we tried to do the same with our kids here, but it didn’t work.”
With Summer in full swing, the team is busy preparing for Fall groups, and will release enrollment information in August!
JFS STAFF COMMITTEES
INSIDER CONTRIBUTERS
MADISON RUFFO MOLLY CARR
LAUREN MAGUIRE
KELLY BROWN
SALIMA PANAHZADA
DANIELLE BERNAS
MARYAM MASOUD
OKSANA PROTSUK
PATTY HOYT
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MONDAY, JULY 22, 2024 NOMINATE SOMEONE
