Jewish Family Services has said “hineni” (“I am here”) for European refugees coming to America since its founding in 1867.
For the last 33 years, I have run the social services for Russian-speaking population department at Jewish Family Services. I was resettled into Milwaukee by JFS in 1980, and all of my employees were resettled as well. When I first arrived, I taught English to the others from the former Soviet Union who were unable to speak English.
In the past, our jobs were mainly to help residents of the former Soviet Union, assisting them with finding employment, housing and applying for school. Gradually, immigration dwindled, and we changed our way of providing services to the elderly Russian community.
No matter how many years these people have been in our country, they still need help understanding English. That is why helping our clients with correspondence is such an important part of what we do.
They receive letters from organizations and government agencies who provide them with benefits, but they can’t read them. They need to respond by calling or sending in documents to keep their certification current, so we are here to provide that service for them. Sometimes they cannot solve a conflict — with a bill, for example — without help from us.
It has been very hard for people moving to America to adjust to the new culture, philosophy and attitude of this country. It’s a different way of life.
In the former Soviet Union, families from three generations lived together. Parents of adult children felt more important, because they felt needed. They helped with the grandchildren, with work and everything.
Here, adult children live separately from their older parents, and they don’t always live close by. They feel abandoned.
So, we are here to be their family. As many services as our clients need, we find a way to provide for them.
Lena Vusiker is resettlement program director at Jewish Family Services.
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