–submitted by Valerie Renk
New member Kai Gardner Mishlove, Executive Director, Jewish Social Services of Madison, shared a bit of the organization’s work before focusing on how JSS welcomes refugees to Madison at the June 7 meeting.
Mishlove said JSS resettles families globally regardless of ethnicity, nationality or religion, starting that work in the 1970s, as they resettled Jewish individuals fleeing antisemitism in the USSR.
Since 2016, JSS resettled 435 individuals. Democratic Republic of Congo, Afghanistan, and Syria are countries most represented today.
“Their trip includes waiting years, before arduous vetting, and then waiting more years,” Michlove said. “We’ll never know their challenges.”
If you missed our meeting this week, you can watch the video here: https://youtu.be/uRtBcSlnqis.
Rotary Club of Madison, Wisconsin 