4, 729 Jewish Refugee Families Aided by N. Y. A. N. A. During Past Year

The New York Association for New Americans, a beneficiary agency of the United Jewish Appeal, aided 4, 729 Jewish refugee families, the equivalent of 14, 000 people, during 1957, it was reported here today at a dinner honoring Richard W. Dammann, outgoing president of the Association. It was announced at the dinner that Lester Ginsburg, prominent civic leader, has been elected president of the agency for 1958.

The total expenditures made by NYANA during 1957 amounted to $1, 326, 704, according to the annual report of the agency presented at the dinner. During the first two months of the year, the agency exceeded its entire year’s expected caseload due to the Hungarian emergency which necessitated an overnight expansion in order to deal with the heavy influx of people requiring help. Expenditures were doubled, and the staff augmented to more than twice its original size. Of the 1, 300 Hungarian families serviced by NYANA, only 200 required assistance at the end of the year.

The agency’s vocational services department, through which newcomers were screened trained and placed in industry, served 3,555 clients during the year, of whom 2,100 secured jobs: provided training for 223 newcomers and obtained 4,127 job openings through extensive solicitation. During the emergency, Mr, Dammann said, employers and labor unions were highly cooperative when approached by the department in behalf of the Hungarians.

Placement at the agency’s sheltered workshop was given to 43 additional aged and handicapped clients in 1957, making a total of 111 clients who have worked there since the shop was formed in 1955. A total of $8,894 was granted by the Association’s business and loan department to certain newcomers in order that they might secure small businesses or purchase tools.