Photo © Judy Duchesne
Casi Kushel, MS, LMFT (July 7, 1943 – January 3, 2021) was an educator and family therapist specializing in intergenerational immigration issues and trauma relief work. In Afghanistan, she focused on post-traumatic stress reduction with children in government orphanages and at the House of Flowers orphanage and school.
In honor of Casi’s dedication to Afghan children and families, JFCS East Bay has set up a memorial “Casi Relief Fund” to benefit our resettlement services happening here in Casi’s East Bay community.
This is an urgent situation. Leading up to the U.S. military withdrawal from Afghanistan, an escalation in violence has taken place as Taliban forces target Afghan citizens who worked with U.S. troops. On July 30, the first of 2,500 Afghans were evacuated to the U.S., and JFCS East Bay has already begun receiving families from this effort. This is the largest evacuation of refugees the U.S. has undertaken since the Vietnam War. We are therefore about to experience a significant surge of new refugees, and we are working overtime to offer refuge to the 4 to 5 families that will be arriving in the East Bay each week. By the end of August, almost 60 new refugees will be in our community.
Please make a donation in Casi’s memory to help support JFCS East Bay’s urgent refugee resettlement efforts.
Other ways to get involved:
VOLUNTEER: Please fill out our Community Sponsorship Groups form. These groups of 4 to 6 volunteers will assist our case managers with tasks such as airport pickups, signing up refugees for their social services benefits, helping register children for school, providing ESL language support, and other related tasks.
SUPPORT: Please consider purchasing something from our JFCS East Bay Amazon Wish List. Every little bit is a huge help! These items are shipped to our office in Concord and are put directly into the hands of refugees. We are happy to provide a receipt for your donation.
CONTRIBUTE: We are looking for gently used household items and furniture in excellent condition. Household items, such as dishware, small appliances, and pots and pans, must be completely clean and can be dropped off at our Concord office by appointment. Furniture, such as mattresses, small nightstands, small dressers, lamps, and rugs, must be delivered to our storage unit in Walnut Creek. Please contact Ami Dodson at adodson@jfcs-eastbay.org for more information.