South Bay Lawmakers Vote To Fund Housing, Meals, Employment Help For Afghan Refugees – CBS San Francisco
SAN JOSE (KPIX) – Santa Clara County has allocated nearly $ 1 million in new funding to assist Afghan refugees relocate to the South Bay.
A unanimous vote by the Santa Clara County Board of Supervisors on Tuesday increased funding for annual service contracts with the International Rescue Committee (IRC) and Jewish Family Services of Silicon Valley (JFSSV) from $ 185,000 to $ 250,000 for each organization.
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The vote also approved one-time funding of $ 750,000 to provide shelter, food, employment and transportation for the refugees entering Santa Clara County.
At Tuesday’s meeting, the guards learned that the IRC had already relocated 40 Afghan refugees and the JFSSV had processed 25 so far. About 300 refugees will arrive in South Bay over the next 12 months.
Supervisor Susan Ellenberg, who drafted the proposal together with Supervisor Otto Lee, called the effort a “moral obligation”.
â € œThis is the core of what we as humans do for one another. We are literally saving lives and helping people start over here. And I wanted to do what I could to make this easier for the people doing the hard work of relocation. said Ellenberg.
At My Breakfast House, a popular eatery in San Carlos, owner Kakey Chang said that pictures of the refugees … Escape from Kabul were “heartbreaking”. Chang has open positions for hosts and table bussers and is encouraging Afghans to apply.
“If you need a job and I have a job, feel free to apply here, work here,” said Chang.
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Chang, who immigrated to the United States from Taiwan as a child, emphasized the importance of making Afghan refugees feel welcome.
â € œYou always try to help. Someone fell down? Your attempt to help them. Help them get up. It’s the same idea. Why help? It’s human nature. We all have to help, â ???? said Chang.
Shef, a San Francisco-based startup, also offers support through direct donations and also through the platform. The company is an online homemade grocery marketplace where customers can order dishes from local neighborhood chefs.
Shef offers refugees a $ 3,500 scholarship for supplies, tools, and marketing, and waives all fees on the platform. In addition, locally established users are delivering Afghan dishes to recently relocated refugees in the Bay Area.
Last week “Shef Laila” delivered 100 meals to the Muslim community center in Pleasanton with the message “Dear fellow Afghans, peace and blessings be upon you. We welcome you to the United States. We hope you like and enjoy this food.
â € œI just hope other companies and other business leaders think about what they could do too. It may be something completely different, but hopefully we are all in a unique position to do something to help and that is what we are trying to do here, â ???? said Alvin Salehi, co-founder and co-CEO of Shef.
Salehi, the son of Iranian immigrants, said the Afghan refugee crisis was striking.
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“Many of them came to the United States under incredibly difficult and devastating circumstances. I hope we will treat her kindly. My hope is that we will actually try to show them the America they have always dreamed of, â ???? said Salehi.
