Educate - Advocate - Volunteer - Mobilize - Organize
The Orange County Jewish Coalition for Refugees (OCJCR) is a volunteer-led affiliate of HIAS (formerly known as Hebrew Immigrant Aid Society). Established in January 2018, OCJCR is a group of individuals, synagogues, and Jewish communal organizations inspired by our people’s history to support refugees locally and worldwide. OCJCR is a signatory to the HIAS Welcome Campaign: a network of 400+ congregations and organizations across the United States who are responding to the largest refugee crisis in human history.
Our work is guided by the biblical mandate to welcome the stranger, and protect the refugee.
We do this by concentrating our efforts on four key areas:
Raising awareness: learning about the global refugee crisis and building connections between the Orange County refugee and Jewish communities
Tzedakah: raising funds and collecting supplies to support refugees
Direct service: encouraging volunteerism among our members to work with local agencies serving refugees
Advocacy: promoting policies and educating legislators on behalf of refugees and asylum seeker
