Austin Jews And Partners For
About Austin Jews And Partners For
Austin Jews and Partners for Refugees is built around the first days and months after arrival, when a family needs a ride, a stocked kitchen, and someone who knows the way around town. Volunteers help with airport pickups, transportation, furniture, groceries, and emergency support, then keep showing up through programs like Salaam Neighbors and Baby Buddies. For donors, the appeal is simple: this is practical help with a human face, right when it matters most.
What sets this group apart is how closely it ties hands-on help to real relationships. A refugee family can get the basics covered, then stay connected to volunteer support for bus orientation, ESL classes, medical appointments, job interviews, and local orientation. That kind of steady, personal help is hard to miss, and hard to replace.
Programs
The concrete work this nonprofit runs. Each program may later become a fundable project.
Volunteer corps
An active volunteer network that provides direct and immediate assistance to refugee families.
Household furniture and goods
Provides furniture, household items, and related goods for newly arriving refugee families.
Resource connections
Connects refugee families to community resources, including food banks, school help, and other supports.
Emergency assistance
Provides emergency assistance to refugee families.
Salaam Neighbors
Pairs volunteer welcome teams with a refugee family for at least three months after arrival to help with bus orientation, groceries, transportation, medical and benefits appointments, ESL classes, job interviews, and local orientation.
Baby Buddies
Pairs female volunteers with refugee women who are about to give birth, offering transportation to medical appointments and emotional support.
Transportation support
Provides rides to medical appointments, benefits-related appointments, job interviews, airport pickups, and other local destinations.
ESL and cultural orientation support
Supports English practice, ESL programs, bus orientation, and cultural orientation for refugee families.
About this work
In their own words — what they do, who it reaches, and what your dollars actually fund.
Mission
Austin Jews and Partners for Refugees envisions all refugees who arrive in Austin being welcomed and provided with the resources they need to pursue opportunities and build successful lives.
Who they serve
Refugee families in Austin, including Afghan refugees and new Afghan neighbors.
Their impact
- Touched almost all of the 1,000 Afghan refugees who settled in Austin from September 2021 to May 2022.
- Raised over $150,000 in cash donations.
- Received $70,000 in kind donations.
- Provided about 20,000 hours of volunteer time and energy.
- Delivered more than 600 welcome meals.
- Ran 600 airport pickups.
- Distributed $80,000 worth of groceries.
- Helped resettle 1,000 refugees.
How your donation helps
- Groceries
- Meals
- Clothes
- Welcome dinners
- Needed items directly to refugees
Our story
Austin Jews and Partners for Refugees began when volunteers from the Austin Jewish Community wanted to help refugees in a direct way. As more people stepped in, it grew into a broader Austin interfaith and community partnership. From September 2021 to May 2022, working with Refugee Services of Texas, the group supported almost all of the 1,000 Afghan refugees who settled in Austin, became a 501(c)3 nonprofit in late 2022, and expanded its partnerships after Refugee Services of Texas closed in May 2023.
Stories
The people behind the work.
In their words
Resettlement is a moral imperative.
“Welcoming the stranger” is our privilege.
Thank you for not leaving me alone in a country that is not mine.
Ways to help
Concrete needs and volunteer roles Austin Jews And Partners For has shared.
Volunteer opportunities
- Co-sponsoring a family
- Driving refugees to appointments
- Apartment setup
- Furniture donation and delivery
- Practicing English
- Cultural orientation
- Transport to medical appointments
- Connecting families to resources like food banks
- Help with schooling needs
- Visit libraries and parks with families
- Support for shot clinics
- Support for ESL programs
- Furniture pickup and storage
- Groceries for families with food insecurities
- Supporting iACT summer camp for kids
- Bus orientation
- Shopping for groceries
- Using cell phones and other technology
- Organizing baby showers for new mothers
- Transportation to medical and benefits-related appointments
- Job interview transportation
Partners & funders
Frequently asked questions
Common questions about this nonprofit and how its work happens.
What kinds of help does Salaam Neighbors provide?
Salaam Neighbors pairs volunteers with a refugee family for at least three months, then helps with bus orientation, groceries, transportation to medical and benefits appointments, job interviews, ESL classes, technology help, and visits to local places.
What does Baby Buddies do?
Baby Buddies pairs female volunteers with refugee women who are about to give birth, and offers transportation to medical appointments and emotional support.
What volunteer tasks are available?
Volunteer opportunities include co-sponsoring a family, driving refugees to appointments, helping with apartment setup, donating and delivering furniture, practicing English, offering cultural orientation, and helping with food banks and schooling needs.
What materials and services are listed for refugee families?
The organization provides furniture and household goods, resource connections, emergency assistance, groceries, meals, clothes, welcome dinners, and other needed items directly to refugees.
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