Springfield – Jewish Family Service of Western Mass has been awarded a competitive two-year
$450,000 Citizenship and Integration Grant from the Department of Homeland Security, U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS). This grant enables JFS to both continue and to expand its work helping legal permanent residents become citizens of the United States.
The fiscal year 2023 grants, which run through September 2025, provide funding to organizations that prepare immigrants for naturalization and promote civic integration through increased knowledge of English, U.S. history and civics. In addition to the traditional programs that fund citizenship and English acquisition classes, FY 2023 grants include opportunities for creative and innovative approaches to preparing immigrants for naturalization.
JFS is one of 51 organizations receiving up to $450,000 each for a period of two years. Since it began in 2009, the Citizenship and Integration Grant Program has awarded more than $155 million through 644 competitive grants to immigrant-serving organizations in 41 states and the District of Columbia. Now in its 15th year, the program has helped more than 300,000 LPRs prepare for citizenship. A “permanent resident” is a person authorized by the US Gov’t to live and work in the country on a permanent basis.
Jewish Family Service is a nonprofit social service agency that has developed both substantive legal and programmatic expertise during its twelve years of experience in naturalization services. “We’re excited to have received this grant and look forward to our continued partnership with U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services” said Robert Radin, JFS Citizenship and Immigration Program Director. “We began this program 12 years ago with seed money from the department, and the demand for our services has grown exponentially ever since. This funding will allow us to expand educational and legal services for all immigrants and refugees in Hampden County. And this work is integral to our mission as a Jewish organization, embodying each of our core values: to promote human dignity, to treat everyone with compassion, to approve the conditions of our communities, and to act, always, with integrity.”
