Who Are We?
At heart, we are a group of passionate volunteers. Our synagogue members represent more than 25,000 individuals and families; our nonprofit members serve thousands more. We promote social justice by focusing on refugees, asylees and undocumented immigrants. We collaborate with non-Jewish religious and secular service organizations. We are expanding our activities to meet member demand and to grow our power to act together in an impactful way.
SCRIC was founded with the support of HIAS, the Jewish non-profit for global refugees. We are now part of a network of nearly 400 congregations across the country taking action for refugees through advocacy, direct service, and tzedakah.
How do we work?
We are motivated by our religious beliefs and our historical experiences of oppression. We have been targets of persecution throughout the centuries. We know the pain of being stateless and friendless refugees and immigrants who were branded as religious or political enemies.
Collectively we advocate directly to our elected officials, recognizing that together we represent a powerful group of active voters.
We serve as a clearinghouse for information about activities and events of our individual members and work together to promote educational and fundraising activities. We meet monthly, share information, and decide on joint actions and events when appropriate.
Recent Activities Rooted in our Jewish tradition and history
- Facilitated congregations becoming sponsors and engaging in resettlement of refugees in New York
- Raised funds for a scholarship for DACA and undocumented students and Lehman College.
- Participated in marches to raise attention and garner support for refugees and immigrants.
- Fostered collaborations among our member institutions to achieve maximum involvement and impact.
- In collaboration with HIAS, trained over 60 lawyers to support asylum seekers.
- Sponsored educational programs on legal and administrative aspects of the immigration process.
- Met with NY Senators and other members of Congress to express our support of immigration-friendly legislation.
- Collaborated with NYC government and the JCC to register over 500 people to obtain an IDNYC identification card irrespective of immigration status.
- Organized a vigil on the anniversary of the S.S. St Louis, the ship turned away from the US with refugees from Nazi Germany, to highlight the injustice of current refugee policies. These efforts were part of HIAS’ nationwide S.S. St Louis vigils.
- Collaborated with HIAS and joined together to collect goods and delivered them to an Afghan family In Queens.
- Received a grant from UJA to pursue our goals.