BZBI to “Adopt” a Family through HIAS Pennsylvania

We have exciting news to share with you! BZBI’s Tikkun Olam Network has formed a partnership with Society Hill Synagogue to “adopt” a refugee family through the HIAS Pennsylvania community support program. HIAS Pennsylvania (formerly the Hebrew Immigrant Aid Society, now a non-denominational resettlement agency) matches refugees with volunteers who can provide a year of ongoing support. We will be helping with everything from job placement to navigating public transportation to sorting through junk mail—all of the needs that arise as a family gradually finds its way in a new setting.

We have been matched with a wonderful family from Congo and Namibia. This summer we began getting to know the parents, Suzana Mbonigaba and Merthus Muzungu, and four of their five children, ranging in age from four to thirteen (they also have a son who is away at college). They are really lovely, kind and funny, and very much in need of support to put things on track. They arrived here as legal refugees three years ago but received little help beyond a minimal three-month resettlement period, and have not been able to improve their housing, work, and educational situations. Just a few weeks ago we helped Delice, who is 13, transfer to a new high school where she will have a much better learning environment, including a faculty member who speaks Swahili. This month we will be especially focused on helping Merthus find permanent work since his current temporary situation will end shortly. Suzana was working at a refrigerated packing plant in New Jersey—hard work, far from home—but she had to leave due to health problems at the beginning of the summer, and for the moment she is not able to work.

In the coming months there will be many opportunities for BZBI members to help out with this and other things. We are expected to meet with them twice a week, one or two volunteers per visit. After stabilizing their income, another high priority will be helping the family find a new home, since their current one is in disrepair and their landlord is unresponsive to their requests. The goal is for the family to achieve self-sufficiency and start to make long-term improvements.

We are planning a special event to introduce the Muzungu-Mbonigaba family to BZBI in a joint event with Society Hill Synagogue this fall. Stay tuned for further information. In the meantime, please let us know if you would like to offer assistance.