New York City OK’s $1.5M for Poor Holocaust Survivors
New York City’s 2016 budget includes $1.5 million to assist Holocaust survivors living in poverty.
The $78.5 billion budget finalized Monday night includes more than $25 million for senior services, JP Updates reported. The Survivor Initiative, a 3-year-old group that, according to its website, “seeks to raise awareness and funds to assure survivors live their remaining years in dignity,” pushed for the city to allocate the $1.5 million.
In New York, the group helps fund UJA-Federation of New York’s services for survivors, which include legal services, cash assistance, mental health support, end-of-life care and home care.
According to the Survivor Initiative, approximately half of New York City’s 64,000 Holocaust survivors have an annual income of less than $11,000, and the average age of New York survivors is 83.
A message from our editor-in-chief Jodi Rudoren
We're building on 127 years of independent journalism to help you develop deeper connections to what it means to be Jewish today.
With so much at stake for the Jewish people right now — war, rising antisemitism, a high-stakes U.S. presidential election — American Jews depend on the Forward's perspective, integrity and courage.
— Jodi Rudoren, Editor-in-Chief
