Refugee Sponsorship

Our Newcomer Family has Arrived…Safe and Sound!!

There were people who had done this all before. There were people who didn’t have a clue about Sponsorship-Agreement Holders. There were people who had participated in the original Vietnamese Operation Lifeline. There were people who hadn’t been born at the time of the original Vietnamese Operation Lifeline.

There was a child Holocaust survivor who said we needed to act. There were children of Holocaust survivors who said we needed to act responsibly.

There were social workers, educators, writers, government employees, corporate lawyers, professors, and historians. There were octogenarians and there were twenty-somethings.

We created a space where we could talk, argue, and cajole. And a space where we could listen, reflect, and be thoughtful.

When we needed facts, we asked for research. When conversation turned into: “I feel”, we took a step back and said, “We need evidence.”

Despite legitimate concerns about security, fundraising dollars being diverted, and questions over who needed our help the most, those of us who attended the meeting of the Refugee Sub-Committee of the First Narayever Congregations’s Social Action Committee knew that we had to do something.

And after all of our diverse voices were heard, we acted.

About this site: This site offers an overview of the process that the sponsorship initiative underwent from its initial proposal through to Board of Governor’s approval. This site contains information about the family we are sponsoring, an FAQ about the initiative, information on donations and in-kind donations, a timeline of the sponsorship initiative, a contact list, helpful links, and articles that have appeared in the media about the sponsorship initiative.

This site will be updated as new information becomes available.

-Pippa Feinstein, Natalie Fingerhut, Lesley Simpson, and Sarah Zelcer Refugee Sponsorship sub-committee of the Social Action Committee

For a timeline of the Sponsorship Initiative, click here.

For our Implementation Strategy, click here.

For a helpful FAQ, click here.

For information about our Refugee Family, click here.

For  information about In-kind or Services Donations, click here.

For a list of Contacts, click here.

For articles about the Narayever’s Sponsorship Initiative, click here.

For helpful links related to Refugee Sponsorship, click here.

For our Communications Strategy, click here.

For the Lifeline Syria Sponsorship Manual, click here.

For a Handbook for Sponsoring Groups (Developed by the Refugee Sponsorship Training Program), click here.