New York Association for New Americans
Encyclopedia
The New York Association for New Americans (NYANA) was a UJC
agency for refugee assistance located on the Battery in New York City
.
NYANA was founded in 1949 as a local arm of the Jewish United Service for New Americans to assist in the resettlement of refugee
s from the Holocaust coming to the USA in the aftermath of World War II
. In the 1950s it served Jewish immigrants from Romania, Greece, Hungary, and Egypt, and in the 1960s from Cuba, Czechoslovakia, and Poland. After Jews were allowed to leave the USSR in the mid-1970s, it expanded to assist large numbers of Jewish refugees from the former USSR. But it also served non-Jewish refugees, beginning in 1972 with Ugandans and continuing with Southeast Asian boat people, Cambodians, Tibetans, and others. It is estimated to have served 500,000 people during its existence.
NYANA sought from its inception to provide one-stop services to refugees, including assistance finding housing, health, mental health and family services, an English as a Second Language school, vocational training, and licensing courses in addition to legal help with immigration and adjustment. As the number of refugees from the former Soviet Union declined, it reshaped itself to serve the broader immigrant population, also offering citizenship assistance, a center for women and families, a mental-health clinic, and a substance-abuse program and programs in workforce and economic development, community development, and bi-culturation.
The NYANA English School taught incoming refugees as much English as possible in intensive classes. Initially the NYANA Method was aural/oral, based on the ulpan
method used to teach Hebrew to new immigrants in Israel
and using a short in-house textbook. Teachers were recruited from the performing arts community and included Todd Solondz
. However, in 1995 the school converted to a more conventional four-skills curriculum. In the late 1990s as numbers of refugees declined, increasing numbers of clients were assigned to ESL classes in neighborhood centers under short-term government grants and the school greatly reduced.
At its peak, NYANA served 50,000 refugees per year, but shifting policies and needs caused this to decline to between 300 and 400 in 2007. Its peak budget was $90 million, which by 2008 had shrunk to $7.5 million. Joseph Lazar, a management consultant who was himself born in a displaced persons camp in the late 1940s, was hired as director and a fund-raising dinner was held, but it raised only about $50,000 and the decision was made to close the agency in summer 2008.
United Jewish Communities
The Jewish Federations of North America , is an American Jewish umbrella organization representing 157 Jewish Federations and the Network of Independent Communities, 400 smaller Jewish communities across North America. The JFNA was formed from the 1999 merger of the United Jewish Appeal, the...
agency for refugee assistance located on the Battery in New York City
New York City
New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
.
NYANA was founded in 1949 as a local arm of the Jewish United Service for New Americans to assist in the resettlement of refugee
Refugee
A refugee is a person who outside her country of origin or habitual residence because she has suffered persecution on account of race, religion, nationality, political opinion, or because she is a member of a persecuted 'social group'. Such a person may be referred to as an 'asylum seeker' until...
s from the Holocaust coming to the USA in the aftermath of World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
. In the 1950s it served Jewish immigrants from Romania, Greece, Hungary, and Egypt, and in the 1960s from Cuba, Czechoslovakia, and Poland. After Jews were allowed to leave the USSR in the mid-1970s, it expanded to assist large numbers of Jewish refugees from the former USSR. But it also served non-Jewish refugees, beginning in 1972 with Ugandans and continuing with Southeast Asian boat people, Cambodians, Tibetans, and others. It is estimated to have served 500,000 people during its existence.
NYANA sought from its inception to provide one-stop services to refugees, including assistance finding housing, health, mental health and family services, an English as a Second Language school, vocational training, and licensing courses in addition to legal help with immigration and adjustment. As the number of refugees from the former Soviet Union declined, it reshaped itself to serve the broader immigrant population, also offering citizenship assistance, a center for women and families, a mental-health clinic, and a substance-abuse program and programs in workforce and economic development, community development, and bi-culturation.
The NYANA English School taught incoming refugees as much English as possible in intensive classes. Initially the NYANA Method was aural/oral, based on the ulpan
Ulpan
An ulpan is an institute or school for the intensive study of Hebrew. Ulpan is a Hebrew word meaning basically studio or teaching, instruction....
method used to teach Hebrew to new immigrants in Israel
Israel
The State of Israel is a parliamentary republic located in the Middle East, along the eastern shore of the Mediterranean Sea...
and using a short in-house textbook. Teachers were recruited from the performing arts community and included Todd Solondz
Todd Solondz
Todd Solondz is an American independent film screenwriter and director known for his style of dark, thought-provoking, socially conscious satire. Solondz has been critically acclaimed for his examination of the "dark underbelly of middle class American suburbia", a reflection of his own background...
. However, in 1995 the school converted to a more conventional four-skills curriculum. In the late 1990s as numbers of refugees declined, increasing numbers of clients were assigned to ESL classes in neighborhood centers under short-term government grants and the school greatly reduced.
At its peak, NYANA served 50,000 refugees per year, but shifting policies and needs caused this to decline to between 300 and 400 in 2007. Its peak budget was $90 million, which by 2008 had shrunk to $7.5 million. Joseph Lazar, a management consultant who was himself born in a displaced persons camp in the late 1940s, was hired as director and a fund-raising dinner was held, but it raised only about $50,000 and the decision was made to close the agency in summer 2008.
Notable former NYANA employees
- Todd SolondzTodd SolondzTodd Solondz is an American independent film screenwriter and director known for his style of dark, thought-provoking, socially conscious satire. Solondz has been critically acclaimed for his examination of the "dark underbelly of middle class American suburbia", a reflection of his own background...
- Alex HalberstadtAlex HalberstadtAlex Halberstadt is an American writer, noted in particular for his biography of Doc Pomus.He came to the United States as a child in 1980....
- Gary ShteyngartGary ShteyngartGary Shteyngart is an American writer born in Leningrad, USSR. Much of his work is satirical and relies on the invention of elaborately fictitious yet somehow familiar places and times.-Life:...
- Roman Turovsky
- Alexander GelmanAlexander GelmanFor the writer Alexander Gelman, see Alexander Isaakovich Gelman. Alexander Gelman , born: Aleksandr Simonovich Gelman is an American theater director and the current Producing Artistic Director of Organic Theater Company in Chicago, Illinois.-Early life:Alexander Gelman was born in Leningrad,...