Vice President Joe Biden announced a new White House effort to aid aging Holocaust survivors living in poverty in the United States, The Jewish Journal reports.
Speaking on Dec. 10 at a congressional luncheon in Washington, D.C., celebrating the 100th anniversary of the American Jewish Joint Distribution Committee (JDC), the Vice President announced that the Obama Administration will appoint a special envoy at the Department of Health and Human Services to act as a liaison for Holocaust survivors and the nonprofit community organizations that serve this vulnerable population.
An estimated 120,000 Holocaust survivors live in the United States today; three-quarters are over 75 years old and two-thirds live alone, The Journal notes.
“This will make the government more responsive to a Hungarian survivor in the Bronx who needs a wheelchair or the elderly woman with memories of the Warsaw Ghetto who needs a ride to the doctor,” said Mr. Biden.
The White House will also establish a partnership between community organizations and the AmeriCorps VISTA program, so that some of the 8,000 volunteers taking part in that federally funded program can work to aid Holocaust survivors. Biden also pledged to explore possible public-private partnerships to address funding shortfalls impacting the community organizations serving Holocaust survivors.
Michael Siegal, chair of JFNA’s board of trustees, welcomed Vice President Biden’s announcement.
“Today our country took a major step forward toward addressing the needs of many Holocaust survivors,” Mr. Siegal said in a statement. “We looking forward to working with the Special Envoy to raise awareness and help ensure that Holocaust survivors receive the support of programs to help them live with dignity and comfort.”
(Jacob Kornbluh – YWN)
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One Response
Whats the ruse? we waited for this almost 70 years, enough time for them to pass away. By now the minimum age for the once who are still around is about 90 plus and very few, so just wait a little more till they pass away and the whole “Aid For Poor Holocaust Survivors” will be history.