From Jewish Community to Partnership
We began as a group of volunteers from the Austin Jewish Community who wanted to make an impact assisting refugees.  And, because so many felt compelled to help,  we soon became an organization of broad-based Austin  interfaith and community-based partnerships. From September 2021 to May of 2022, and in partnership with Refugee Services of Texas, (the local resettlement agency), our grass-roots group of volunteers touched almost all of the 1000 Afghan refugees who settled in Austin. We mobilized in the crisis to provide transportation, meals, groceries, and many connections to other services.  We raised over $150,000 in cash and $70,000 in kind donations and provided about 20,000 hours of volunteer time and energy with over 200 volunteers.

From Crisis to Integration
Ten months after the emergency airlift of Afghan Refugees to Austin, AJPR focused on programs to assist refugee families more fully integrate into the Austin community.  
  • We were the key group supporting RST with assistance for shot clinics, ESL programs, furniture pickup and storage, groceries to families who have food insecurities, and supporting iACT summer camp for kids.​
  • Salaam Neighbors: program designed to assist specific families for 3 months after resettlement.
  • Baby Buddies: AJPR partners with RST to pair female volunteers with refugee women who were about to give birth. Many women found themselves in a strange place without their parents and extended family and “baby buddy” volunteers provided transportations to medical appointments and emotional support. 

From Grass Roots Volunteers to
​Non-Profit Organization  
In late 2022, AJPR became a 501(c)3 non-profit, and began a new phase of our organization. In May 2023, when Refugee Services of Texas abruptly closed after 45 years of helping refugees in Austin, AJPR stepped up to help refugees caught in the crisis caused by this sudden shift. Since then, as more organizations, including HIAS, have entered Austin’s Refugee Resettlement landscape, AJPR has formed new partnerships to enable us to continue to provide volunteer assistance to refugee families.