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. )

