Kehilat Hadar is currently undergoing a community based organizing initiative to refocus our social justice programming. If you'd like to be envolved with this exciting process, please contact Charlie Schwartz at charlie@kehilathadar.org. During our organizing process many of the social justice programs listed below will be continuing, so feel free to join!
Affordable Housing and Homelessness
Over the past year, Kehilat Hadar has worked actively to end homelessness by building and advocating for affordable homes with Habitat for Humanity – New York City and volunteering at the Ansche Chesed homeless shelter.
To volunteer at the Ansche Chesed Shelter for an overnight shift (Hadar is responsible for staffing every Tuesday night) or for more information, email Efrem Epstein at shelter@kehilathadar.org. Also, see below.
To join the housing team, email housing@kehilathadar.org.
Hadar and the Ansche Chesed Homeless Shelter
The Homeless Shelter at Ansche Chesed provides a safe, clean place to stay every night for 10 men who are trying to transition out of homelessness. On any given night, most, if not all, of the guests have stayed at the shelter previously. This continuity helps to foster an atmosphere of ease and familiarity, as well as a sense of responsibility toward the shelter and a feeling of respect among the guests.
We have taken responsibility for the Tuesday overnight shift at the shelter, and would like to ask YOU to volunteer. Overnight volunteers arrive at the shelter at 9:00 PM, sleep undisturbed in a separate room in the building, supervise wake up of the men, and lock up at 6:30 AM. People can volunteer by themselves, or with a friend.
To read testimonials from recent Hadar shelter volunteers about their experiences, click here!
If you would like to be on the Hadar volunteer list, or if you have any questions, please get in touch with Efrem Epstein at shelter@kehilathadar.org. You can also get more information directly from the Shelter website.
Hadar and Habitat for Humanity NYC
After a number of months of deliberation, Hadar became a faith partner with Habitat for Humanity NYC. The decision to partner with Habitat was the result of a number of factors:
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| 5/11/04: Members of Hadar Social Justice Team participated in an overnight vigil in City Hall Park in an effort to draw attention to the affordable housing crisis faced by NYC residents. After a night on the pavement, they davened together & smiled for a picture before facing the day. | |
- The Habitat affiliate that we are working with is a NYC agency, so the impact of our work will be felt at a local level.
- Habitat for Humanity NYC is prepared to make use of large numbers of volunteers.
- Habitat for Humanity NYC provides opportunities for both direct service and advocacy.
- Partnering with Habitat for Humanity NYC allows Hadar flexibility. The commitments are very general: volunteer at builds, raise funds for affordable housing, teach about the issue of homelessness, and support advocacy work.
Habitat NYC developed a policy platform, titled, "Housing Covenant." Each year Habitat plans to identify discrete actions for its faith partners (including Hadar) to take in an effort to meet five long term policy goals: end homelessness, build homes, expand homeownership, end housing discrimination, promote sustainable housing development.
Kiva Microloans
Over Purim 5767, the Hadar community raised over $1000 in donations to Kiva (http://www.kiva.org) an organization that gives small loans to businesses in the developing world. The progress of Hadar's "sponsored businesses" can be followed at:
Winnie Wanjiru Mungai
MOKPOKPO
God is Great Enterprise
Lusekelo Mwakilembe
Darfur
On November 12 2007, several of us met at JTS to hear a humanitarian aid worker who recently returned from Darfur, speak about her experiences, and to talk about what we can do to help end the genocide in Sudan.
Through our learning and conversation, we came up with five points of action we are recommending for the Hadar community.
1. Financially support NGOs. Because it is very difficult to get money to NGOs on the ground, look for American NGOs who are partnered with local Sudanese organizations. NGOs are doing much of the most crucial humanitarian work in the region, and supporting their efforts, however you can, is vital.
2. Raise more political support for and awareness of the African Union (AU) peacekeeping troops. As of now, there are only 7000 AU troops in Sudan. Much of the recent intervention rhetoric has been about increasing UN peacekeeping troops, but without the sanction of the Sudanese government, these troops will be immobile. The Sudanese government will allow AU troops, however.
3. Remind your friends and neighbors that even on days when we don't have rallies or call-ins, the genocide is still happening. It is an ongoing crisis. Keep the issue alive.
4. Look into ways to combat gender-based violence (GBV). Women are frequently assaulted when they leave their camps to gather firewood. Fuel efficient stoves are one way to prevent or lessen GBV in these situations.
5. Call and email your government representatives on a regular basis to remind them that Darfur matters to you. Especially because we just had an election, our representatives are eager to hear our views.
Here is important contact information:
*Senator Clinton: senator_clinton@clinton.senate.gov, 202-224-4451
*Senator Schumer: senator@schumer.senate.gov, 202-224-6542
*President Bush: 202-456-1111
Find your House representative: www.congress.org
Here are useful websites:
*Save Darfur: www.savedarfur.org
*American Jewish World Service: www.ajws.org
*STAND, A Student Anti-Genocide Coalition: www.standnow.org
*The New York Times Sudan archive:
http://topics.nytimes.com/top/news/international/countriesandterritories/sudan/index.html?8qa
These are five recommendations, but there are many other ways to get involved. If you have any questions, comments, or wish to be a part of Hadar's Darfur advocacy work in the future, please contact Debby Katz at darfur@kehilathadar.org.
We are excited about this phase in Hadar's social action commitments. If you have any questions, or would like to get involved with the social action team, please e-mail (deenasfox@yahoo.com). Thanks!