HIAS: A Modest Proposal For Human Resources

GRANT PROPOSAL
Jordan Harris

I. Proposal Summary (Executive Summary)
HIAS is requesting a one million dollar grant, to help aid the refugees and displaced people of Afghanistan today. We plan to use this money, if granted, to order much needed medical supplies, supplies to build stronger shelters, and most importantly, more food and water so that not one mother, father, or child suffers anymore than they already have.

II. Organization Description and History HIAS stands for Hebrew Immigrant Aid Society (HIAS), and due to the Jewish background we are able to use Jewish ethics and our experiences to commit to serving the refugees and displaced persons around the world. HIAS respects all cultures and religious beliefs of our refugees. We support

The one in Maryland specifically is in Baltimore, and is called the Jewish Community Services. HIAS was founded originally in 1881 to assist Jews fleeing Russia and Eastern Europe. HIAS supports and welcomes all Jewish families in America that have had to escape persecution. HIAS began in a store in Lower East Manhattan, it was created to provide aid and support to Jews fleeing from the anti-Semitic riots in their homelands. After so many refugees had come, HIAS began searching for meals, transportation, and jobs for them. Later in 1904, HIAS established a bureau for the immigrants to help find transportation, assist medically, and prevent deportation. HIAS worked to get the Jews employment rights and worked to even get a kosher kitchen down in Ellis Island to feed

However during World War I, America passed the National Origins Quota of 1924, putting restrictions on how many immigrants could enter at once “In the 1920s laws changed to recognize the need for safe haven but countries like the United States established legal requirements for resettlement. HIAS expanded to ensure that Jewish refugees could find welcome and safety.” (“History”, par. 9). Unfortunately, HIAS was unable to help as many as planned, but they continued to assist all that they could. After the war, HIAS worked hard to evacuate displaced persons camps in Europe, and get all of them, including all of the refugees, to safe places such as the U.S., Canada, Australia, and South America. The Universal Declaration of Human Rights and the 1951 Refugee Convention, allowed HIAS to begin work in any country, not just the United States. HIAS has assisted many refugees such as ones fleeing the Soviet Union. Eventually, in the 2000’s, HIAS expanded work to non-Jews as well. We began aiding people in Afghanistan, Hungary, Czechoslovakia, Haiti, and in many more places. HIAS wants to keep as many refugees and displaced people safe around the word, as we can, as it was mentioned on our website “HIAS strives to ensure that the world never turns its back on those who have fled oppression, violence, or genocide.” (“Advocacy”, par. 1).