Refugee Resettlement Program “You too must befriend the stranger, for you were strangers in the land of Egypt.”
Deuteronomy 10:19

WHAT IS TBA’S REFUGEE RESETTLEMENT PROGRAM?

As part of the Tikkun Olam Committee, TBA’s Refugee Resettlement Program currently assists four refugee families. Three of the families are Syrian, and one is Colombian. We provide different levels of assistance to the families, depending on their needs.
Our assistance includes tutoring family members to help improve their English language skills, arranging medical and dental care, delivering food, helping the children with their schoolwork and serving as liaisons with their schools, and exploring opportunities for job training and employment. As the families become more settled and their needs change, the assistance we provide may change as well.
We also work with a number of interfaith groups in Montgomery County to share information and support other faith communities’ efforts to help refugee families.

Contact Information:
Ron Lobel, Emil Mendelavich, and Susan Fox* co-chairs TBA’s Refugee Resettlement Program.
Contact them or Mark Joffe for more information, to be added to the Program’s email list, or to volunteer.
Thank you for your interest in and support of this effort!

How Can I Help?

Transportation

We maintain a list of volunteers who have offered to help refugee families with transportation needs, which mainly occur during weekdays and involve taking family members to and from doctor’s appointments.

As needs occur, we send out a request to see who can be available at a given date and time.

May be in Prince George’s County or Montgomery County.

To volunteer, contact Brad Harvey.
Tutoring

Tutoring

May involve helping family members learn English or tutoring the children in their school subjects.

Our goal is to develop a curriculum that meets the needs of the individual refugees.

May occur in refugee’s homes or through online software such as Zoom.

To volunteer, contact Susan Fox*.

*Susan Fox can also be reached by text at 301-461-0917.
Medical Needs

We occasionally need the assistance of physicians, dentists, mental health professionals, and nurses to consult on medical issues and/or to provide periodic health services.

To be added to the list of professionals to be contacted when a need arises, contact Ron Lobel to express your interest and identify your specialty.
Employment Opportunity Assistance
Public Benefits Assistance
Housing Opportunity Exploration Assistance

Most of the refugee families we assist live in Prince George’s County, mainly because the rent is less expensive than in Montgomery County, although Montgomery County generally offers better employment opportunities and services.

To volunteer to help identify affordable housing opportunities in Montgomery County for families that would want to move, contact Ron Lobel.
Social Outings Assistance

Other Opportunities to Assist

Gift cards. We periodically give Target or Walmart gift cards to the families we assist or use them to purchase specific items that a family needs. Please place donations of gift cards in the designated jar in the Temple office.

Laptop computers. We collect laptop computers with Wi-Fi capability for the families we help. If you have one to donate, please contact Rich Luxenberg.

Financial contributions. To make a contribution to TBA’s Refugee Program, click here. In the drop-down menu, please designate Tikkun Olam General Fund.

Please let one of the Refugee Resettlement Program co-chairs know a donation has been made and how you wish it to be applied to the TBA Refugee Program. Thank you!

TBA’s Refugee Resettlement Program co-chairs: Ron Lobel, Emil Mendelavich, and Susan Fox.

Other items. As specific items are needed, we will send announcements through the Temple and to our designated refugee group email list requesting that volunteers use SignUpGenius to donate needed items.

Special Announcements

Assisting with benefit issues

We are looking for a volunteer who can help families with benefit issues—principally SNAP (food stamps) and Medicaid. This may entail occasionally accompanying family members to P.G. or Montgomery County offices to ask about benefits. If you would like to help out (even if you don’t know anything about these programs now), please contact Emil Mendelavich.

Updating list of volunteers who help drive our refugee families

We have a group of volunteers who have volunteered to drive our refugee families to appointments when needed. We typically send a note to the group asking if anyone would be available on a particular day and time to help. Please contact Brad Harvey if you are interested in helping this way.

What other organizations is TBA working with?

We are supporting the efforts of Human Rights First, a nonprofit that helps asylum seekers living in the DC area. Currently, these families are mostly from Latin America and Africa. We have assisted Human Rights First with targeted collections and are exploring other support that we can provide.

We are also supporting the work of the Hebrew Immigrant Aid Society (HIAS), which works to protect refugees worldwide who have been forced to flee their homelands for ethnic, religious, and other reasons.

Information of Interest about Refugees

Refugee Resettlement Program “You too must befriend the stranger, for you were strangers in the land of Egypt.” Deuteronomy 10:19

WHAT IS TBA’S REFUGEE RESETTLEMENT PROGRAM?

How Can I Help?

Refugee Resettlement Program “You too must befriend the stranger, for you were strangers in the land of Egypt.”
Deuteronomy 10:19