William Daroff

WASHINGTON (JTA) – Congress maintained funding levels for a poverty assistance program favored by Jewish groups in the face of proposed Trump administration cuts.

A Jewish Federations of North America memo sent Wednesday to JTA and first circulated among member federations May 5 noted that the massive spending bill approved last week includes $120 million for the emergency food and shelter program administered by the Federal Emergency Management Agency in partnership with faith groups, including the Jewish Federations of North America, or JFNA.

President Donald Trump had proposed cutting $20 million in funding for the program, which assists the working poor.

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“We are grateful to Congress for opposing what would have amounted to a devastating cut to a program designed to be fast, flexible and responsive to local needs, and which is lauded by providers as an essential stop-gap measure for families in crisis,” William Daroff, JFNA’s Washington director, said in the memo. “This program fulfills our Jewish communal mandate of providing for the hungry and the homeless.

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