US Holocaust survivor agencies get $2.8 million

Infusion part of $12 million five-year federal grant for over 100,000 survivors, one in four of whom lives in poverty

By JTA 3 March 2016, 5:55 pm

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File: Holocaust survivors attend a ceremony at the former Auschwitz Nazi death camp in Oswiecim, Poland, on January 27, 2016, the 71st anniversary of the death camp's liberation by the Soviet Red Army in 1945. (AP Photo/Czarek Sokolowski)

WASHINGTON — The Jewish federations umbrella organization disbursed $2.8 million in federal grants to assist Holocaust survivors.

With matching private funds, required under terms of the Department of Health and Human Services allocation announced last year, the Jewish Federations of North America said its disbursement announced Wednesday will result in $4.5 million in assistance for Holocaust survivors.

A statement from the Jewish Federations of North America described the services as “person-centered and trauma-informed,” saying it is a “holistic approach to service provision that promotes the dignity, strength, and empowerment of trauma victims by incorporating knowledge about the role of trauma in victims’ lives into agency programs, policies and procedures.”

The grant recipients include Jewish social service agencies in California, Florida, Illinois, Indiana, Kansas, Massachusetts, the Washington D.C. metropolitan area, Maryland, Michigan, New Jersey, New York, and Ohio.

The statement said that of more than 100,000 survivors in the United States, one in four is 85 or over and one in four lives in poverty.

“Many live alone and are at risk for social isolation, depression, and other physical and mental health conditions stemming from periods of starvation, disease and torture,” according to JFNA.

The allocation is a tranche of $12 million to be distributed over five years and is part of an initiative launched in late 2013 by Vice President Joe Biden.