Files

Download

Transcript (228 KB)

Description

Mira Sussman is the Resource Development Manager for Jewish Family Services of Washtenaw County. In this interview, Sussman describes growing up in the Jewish community in Ann Arbor, her first time working at JFS in the employment program between 2005-2013, and how JFS evolved during her first time working there. Sussman explains how different resettlement services are at JFS now vs. the early 2000s, the resettlement process, and how COVID-19 has made resettling difficult due to lack of access to housing. Sussman also explores JFS’s collaboration with Eastern Michigan University in resettling 12 Afghan families into on-campus housing, storing mattresses and pillows in the Bowen Fieldhouse, and the logistics of housing these families both during these short stay at EMU and beyond.

Interview Date

Winter 3-1-2024

Keywords

Mira Sussman, Jewish Family Services, Ann Arbor, Ypsilanti, Eastern Michigan University, immigration, refugee, Afghans, housing, resettlement, oral history

Permission to Use

Permission to quote from this oral history should be requested from the University Archives (lib_archives@emich.edu).

Streaming Media

Mira Sussman, Oral History Interview, 2024

Share

COinS