22 | SEPTEMBER 1 • 2022

O

n Saturday, July 9, Daniel
Lebedinski of Bloomfield cele-
brated his bar mitzvah at Temple
Beth Ahm in West Bloomfield. Daniel’s
parents, Alexander and Svetlana Lebedinski,
immigrated separately with their families
to the Detroit area from Ukraine in 1994,
where they were welcomed by Washtenaw
County Jewish Family Services’ Refugee
Resettlement Program in Oak Park.
The Lebedinski family has been follow-
ing the war in Ukraine closely and knew
they wanted to integrate supporting fellow
Ukrainians into Daniel’s bar mitzvah cele-
bration.
“We know that there will be an inflow
of people in need. Thinking about how it
was when we came, and how JFS helped us
when we first came to the United States, we
felt that this was a great opportunity to give
back and help support those who are com-
ing now,
” Alex Lebedinski said.
Knowing that JFS was affiliated with
the HIAS resettlement organization, they
checked HIAS’ website and saw that the
closest current affiliate is Jewish Family
Services of Washtenaw County, based in
Ann Arbor. For nearly 30 years, JFSWC
has resettled individuals from around the
world, regardless of religion, age, ethnicity

or national origin. In the past year, they had
resettled nearly 300 Afghans, who all arrived
in about five months. They also expect to
resettle roughly 350 refugees from the rest
of the world annually.

UNITING FOR UKRAINE
Ukrainians arriving in the U.S. will have a
variety of visa statuses, including through
their family or employment. A new arrival
path was recently created by President Joe
Biden when he announced the “Uniting
for Ukraine” program. Uniting for Ukraine
encourages individuals, synagogues, church-
es and affinity groups to sponsor Ukrainians
and foreign nationals who were residing in
Ukraine prior to the Russian invasion of
February 2022 to come to the United States.
Uniting for Ukraine provides Ukrainians
with humanitarian parole, a status that
allows them to legally live, apply for work
authorization and access public benefits in
the U.S. for two years, supported and assist-
ed in resettlement by their sponsors.
While Uniting for Ukraine sponsors
are expected to help the newcomers to
find housing and furniture, provide initial
transportation, supply meals and groceries,
enroll children in school, and ensure that
Ukrainians access other necessities, JFSWC

knows that this is quite a demand on spon-
sors, and that the agency will be tapped for
its expertise in the resettlement process.
JFSWC began preparing to help
Ukrainians this past spring. Together with
the Ukrainian-American Crisis Response
Committee, JFSWC co-sponsored a concert
fundraiser that featured talented performers
from the University of Michigan’s student
body. JFSWC is hiring Ukrainian- and
Russian-speaking caseworkers, identifying
housing and potential co-signers, and antic-
ipates increased demands on its specialty
food pantry, English as a Second Language
classes, transportation program and coun-
seling services. The agency has already
received many requests for help, resources
and referrals.

A SPECIAL MITZVAH PROJECT
After confirming that JFSWC expects to
welcome many Ukrainians, the Lebedinski
family decided to do a fundraiser for
JFSWC’s Ukrainian clients for Daniel’s mitz-
vah project. “We posted it on Facebook, put
up posters at our shul, and spread the word
to friends, family and at my parents’ work,
”
said Daniel. The family also recommended
HIAS as a direct donation recipient.
“
A lot of people said that they wanted to
help, but they just didn’t know what organi-
zations they could trust,
” Alex said. With the
Lebedinskis’ personal experience, they knew
they could trust JFSWC.
In addition to financial resources, JFSWC
will need community involvement in other
areas. JFS facilitates a co-sponsorship pro-
gram, whereby synagogues and similar
groups can work one-on-one with a refugee
family from anywhere in the world.
“People can volunteer to get school sup-
plies and pack backpacks, help out in the
food pantry, donate furniture, clothes and
other things that they might need,
” Daniel
said.
In addition, the agency needs baby items
(health and hygiene kits, newborn diapers,
sheets and blankets, newborn onesies, etc.)
for the newest arrivals.
“It makes me feel better and makes me
happy that I’m able to do something for
people who are in need,
” Daniel said.

To donate to JFSWC or find out more about sponsoring

Ukrainians, go to www.jfsannarbor.org.

OUR COMMUNITY

Bar mitzvah project raises money
to support Washtenaw County’s
Refugee Resettlement Program.

Welcoming Refugees

MIRA SUSSMAN SPECIAL TO THE JEWISH NEWS

The Lebedinski
family celebrated
Daniel’s bar
mitzvah at Temple
Beth Ahm. (Rabbi
Steven Rubenstein
is in the dark suit. )