Jewish Family Service recipient of “retired” County van from Patterson

February 10, 2010

Summary

Kent refugee and immigrant center will use vehicle to meet transportation needs of clients

Story

A Kent program that provides vital services to new arrivals fleeing war, persecution, dislocation and discrimination in several parts of the world received a vital boost with the delivery of a retired Metro eight-passenger van.

Metropolitan King County Councilmember Julia Patterson gave the keys of the vehicle to the Jewish Family Service Refugee & Immigrant Service Center on February 9. Patterson was greeted by a crowd of grateful clients and JFS staff who welcomed her to their Kent location and were eager to take a look inside the van. The van will be used to provide transportation services for low-income refugees and immigrants in the Greater Kent area. This includes travel to medical appointments, job interviews and social service appointments.

“I am proud of Jewish Family Service and their tremendous efforts to deliver essential human services to their clients, many of whom are resettling in a land that is completely foreign to them,” said Patterson. “South King County has a growing immigrant population, which benefits greatly from having these services available in close proximity to those in need.”

Jewish Family Service, founded in Seattle in 1892, delivers essential human services to alleviate suffering, sustain healthy relationships and support people in times of need.
The JFS Refugee & Immigrant Service Centers (RISC) provide essential resources to help people from all cultures world-wide who are resettling in the Puget Sound Area. Services include information and referrals, social services, employment services and training, job placement and retention, ESL classes, child care resources and citizenship and naturalization preparation.

“Our program has needed a van for a very long time to help transport our clients to critically important administrative and medical appointment,” said RISC Director Shane Rock. “This wonderful donation greatly expands our capacity to get people where they need to go, thereby helping them to acclimate to their new surroundings. We’re truly grateful to Councilmember Patterson and King County!”

In addition to the Kent location, RISC also has an office in Bellevue. These service centers are staffed with professional case managers/job developers fluent in Cantonese, Hmong, Mandarin, Laotian, Russian, Spanish, Ukrainian, Vietnamese, Somali, Arabic, Farsi and Lithuanian. The culturally diverse staff is recruited directly from the ethnic communities served. In 2009, RISC served 1,567 individuals with 43,316 hours of services.

Since 1995, the King County Council has donated vans to nonprofit groups to help meet the transportation needs of low-income, elderly, youth, or people with disabilities in King County. The vans are part of a fleet of county vehicles that have been ‘retired’ after accruing a certain number of miles. This is the eighth year that each member of the council has been able to donate vans.

The vans were donated through an annual application process. For more information about applying for a van, contact Councilmember Patterson’s Office at (206) 296-1005



Councilmember Patterson turns over the keys to a retired King County Vanpool van to Jewish Family Service’s Shane Rock, Director, Refugee & Immigrant Service Centers (RISC)