Title
Honoring and recognizing the heart-driven, impactful and life-changing career of Judith Bernstein-Baker in service to Philadelphia's vibrant community of immigrants and refugees.
Body
WHEREAS, Judith Bernstein-Baker, born to Jewish immigrants from Poland, and raised among Latino and Asian seamstresses in New York, has devoted every waking moment of her career to welcoming strangers facing exclusion and genocide into the fabric of our community, and to ensuring these new neighbors full access to everything our diverse and vibrant neighborhoods have to offer; and
WHEREAS, Judi's eighteen years of service to HIAS Pennsylvania have been deeply personal; per the Jewish value of welcoming the stranger, HIAS is the nation's oldest international migration and refugee resettlement agency, providing legal and supportive services to immigrants, refugees, and asylum seekers to assure their fair treatment and full integration into American society; and
WHEREAS, Since joining HIAS Pennsylvania as Executive Director in 1998, Judi has led the non-profit to triple in size and expand its services to provide legal, social, and resettlement services to low- income Philadelphians who seek political asylum, citizenship, and relief from deportation; and
WHEREAS, During Judi's tenure, HIAS Pennsylvania has relocated refugees fleeing violence in Central America and West Africa; secured temporary protective status to Haitians after the 2010 earthquake; helped clients obtain special visas for refuge from domestic abuse; and became the region's largest provider of free immigration services to unaccompanied, abused, and neglected minors; and
WHEREAS, Since the day Judi first arrived in the City of Brotherly Love-to attend the University of Pennsylvania's Graduate School of Social Work and Temple University's Beasley School of Law-she has helped grow the City of Philadelphia's international reputation for welcoming, supporting, and embracing members of our society wh...
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