June 4 - JFS Monthly Insider

MONTHLY INSIDER

HAPPY PRIDE MONTH!

On Sunday, JFS staff walked in the Buffalo PRIDE parade and tabled at the PRIDE Village. The day was filled with love, community and, of course, pride!!

Thank you to everyone who participated and helped JFS represent at Buffalo PRIDE!

With the beginning of summer later this month and flowers and gardens in near-full bloom, we want to see your plants! Inside, outside, green thumb or not - show off your flora!

We’ll be showcasing everyone’s plants and gardens at the beginning of July so submit your photos today!

SUBMIT GARDEN PICS

SUMMER’S ALMOST HERE! SHOW OFF YOUR GARDENS!!

TUESDAY, JUNE 4, 2024 JFSWNY

UPDATES FROM COMMUNITY EDUCATION

By: Anthony Digesare

At JFS, we all know that learning English is one very important key to thriving in the U S We also know that many of our clients come to the U.S. with small children and as husbands take work, frequently women are the ones tasked with the daily reality of taking care of children. As such, women with young children often have difficulty getting out of the house to attend English classes. Single mothers have the most trouble, but even married women also face a myriad of obstacles (transportation, childcare). However, over the past few months the Community Education team has been able to put together some options for women in this position.

Money for childcare is always an impediment and Oksana’s team has been able to secure grants to cover childcare so that mothers can go to classes during the days. For instance, I recently took a Swahili woman to register for beginner classes at the Herkimer School because she was approved for this grant. I took another woman who already has a good grasp of English to register at Suny Erie Community College for their intermediate level English classes; this specific woman ultimately hopes to attend college courses, so the ECC Pathways program is perfect for her (I must also mention Nourah’s hard work that made this last instance possible!).

In addition to this, RISE recently began an online ESL program and I have referred a few clients over to them. Those first referrals went very well, so the folks from RISE let me know that they have the capacity to accommodate more of our clients In the meantime, Salima has been running a Women’s Empowerment group for Afghan mothers. I had the pleasure of speaking with the group last month about adult education and many of the women in the group, for the reasons stated above, are not currently enrolled in English classes, so when I mentioned the RISE online classes to them, they were all very excited at the prospect Salima gathered information for all 11 women in the group, and we sent referrals to RISE. Amazingly, RISE accommodated all 11 women, and they began attending evening classes on May 15th that will run online every Tuesday and Friday evening.

We are excited to be able to connect all these women to much needed resources and look forward to continuing to do so. Please feel free to e-mail me if you have any questions, or any clients looking to access any of these resources.

REMOTE QUESTIONNAIRE

By: Patty Hoyt

As we transition from temporary to permanent office space, many of us have supplies divided between our agency desks and home offices. In order to get an accurate count of the tech and office furniture we have, please click on the link to fill out the Remote Questionnaire by June 10. Thank you!

JFSWNY

QUESTIONNAIRE

TUESDAY, JUNE

2024

4,

TUESDAY, JUNE 4, 2024

RICH GARDEN GRAND OPENING!

By: Adam El-Fawal

On Friday May 24th, the annual RICH garden opening and planting occurred. The initiative, supported by Grassroots Gardens WNY, gives JFS the opportunity to learn about and grow fresh vegetables, provide access to fresh produce for clients, and literally enjoy the fruits (vegetables in this case) of their labor!

Members of RICH were met with dazzling sunshine and fresh soil, with two of the garden plots precleaned and ready to be planted. The team spent time cleaning out the remaining beds, discussing what was a weed and what was, potentially, a seed that survived the winter and re-grew The kale planted last year wintered beautifully and is now at least three feet tall and full of luscious leaves; four or five tomatoes replanted themselves and have already started sprouting, not to mention the abundance of garlic and onions!

The RICH team planted herbs, parsley, hot peppers, eggplant, squash, and some more kale. Besides the tomatoes already there, no new tomatoes will be planted this year, with a promise from Danielle that this year will be the year to keep the tomatoes under control!

One of the more meaningful interactions at the garden opening was a community member walking by and praising the garden initiative. They spok l h b h f h d n, especially when everything is in bloom, how it ch and abundant it is in the middle of the growing pact the garden has on the community. Check out th e you’re there and enjoy a tomato when they’re o