BROOKLYN WEATHER

Gov. Hochul Dedicates $2.6 Million to Provide Social Services in “Safe, Loving Environments” for Holocaust Survivors

By Yehudit Garmaise

“It is great to be back in Boro Park,” Gov. Hochul said with a smile today at the Boro Park Y on 14th Avenue, where she announced $2.6 million in funding to 29 organizations that provide social services for the state’s 40,000 Holocaust survivors.

After having what the governor called “meaningful conversations with the most resilient, strong, and compassionate women I have ever had the chance to encounter,” the governor asked, “How is it possible that 40% of New York’s Holocaust survivors live in poverty?

As part of the week of Yom HaShoah, in which everyone "should pause and reflect," Gov. Hochul said, “I want to provide the resources to take care of you.”

"Governor Hochul is clearly demonstrating that she understands how much support this amazing elderly community needs," said David Greenfield, the CEO of the Met Council, which along with organizations, such as the Boro Park Y, the Boro Park Jewish Community Council (BPJCC), and the UJA-Federation of New York, will benefit from state funds

With gratitude, the governor said that the Jewish organizations that will receive state funding are run by people who are “compassionate and dedicated to providing resources that will enrich the lives of Holocaust survivors,” Gov. Hochul said. “We all want to provide every service you need in safe, loving environments: something many of you were denied as children.”

“Caring for Holocaust survivors who withstood the most diabolical genocide in civilized history is the moral duty of decent people everywhere," Senator Simcha Felder said. "As a representative of the largest population of Holocaust survivors in the nation, I consider it a profound honor and responsibility to ensure that those who suffered the worst atrocities live the rest of their lives with dignity and respect.

The governor spoke about how she took her family to visit concentration camps in Austria and Germany, “to make sure that my children were aware that in their own grandparents’ lifetimes, the most horrific atrocities were committed against our fellow human beings.”

After the governor was told by one Holocaust survivor that she felt robbed of her childhood, Hochul said, “We can be kids again. We can be in a place like this: a safe space, where you can share experiences with people who know what you have been through.

“Such places and people are part of the healing process, which is why I wanted to make sure we have the money allocated for these purposes.”

Photos by: Dovid Jaroslawicz

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