Join JFS in celebrating AmeriCorps Week & our NAIP AmeriCorps Member, Leila!

Mar 9, 2021 | Community Partners, Immigrant and Resettlement, JFS of Metrowest, New American Services, Pathways to College, We are JFS!

Join JFS in celebrating AmeriCorps Week!

Across the country AmeriCorps engages 270,000 Americans each year in sustained, results-driven service through AmeriCorps service programs! This year we are celebrating our current AmeriCorps service member, Leila Murphy!

Leila serves in The New American Integration Program (NAIP). NAIP is an AmeriCorps program based in Massachusetts that assists refugee and immigrant communities in obtaining essential services and educational opportunities that enable them to improve their quality of life. NAIP members receive intensive training to teach English for Speakers of Other Languages (ESOL), serve as medical interpreters, and assist eligible Legal Permanent Residents in their applications for citizenship.

Since 2011, the New Americans Integration Institute has served as a hub for this work, providing policy research, program engagement, and administrative advocacy. Launched with a grant from The Boston Foundation, the Institute operates at the center of a diverse network of state, local and national organizations seeking to expand integration opportunities for immigrants and refugees in Massachusetts. Its Advisory Board includes representatives of state and local government, nonprofits, academia and philanthropy.

 
Leila is a member of our Immigrant Service Team at JFS! She assists green card holders in applying for naturalization, works with recently resettled asylees and refugees, and helps first-generation college students access mentorship and satisfy basic needs. Leila was raised in New York City and has family both in MA and NY. Her past work in social services and education–as well as her time abroad as a Fulbright Teaching Fellow in Morocco —inspires her interest in and dedication to the mission of JFS and the Immigrant Services team.

She shares with us…

 

“I feel grateful that I get to help individuals meet their needs and that I work for an organization committed to increasing opportunities for all. My great-grandparents immigrated to Massachusetts many years ago, and I think of them in remembering the timeless urgency of this work.”

 

Thank you, Leila for your commitment to JFS and for your service in AmeriCorps!