More than 2 million refugees await resettlement around the world, according to from the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees. Events of the past year in Afghanistan and Ukraine have added to the long-standing needs of refugees from regions in Africa, the Middle East and the Americas who are seeking protection in the U.S.
This year the State Department launched a program that allows individual Americans to privately sponsor refugees being resettled in the U.S. It鈥檚 called 鈥溾�� and Chris George, the executive director of Integrated Refugee and Immigrant Services in New Haven, says it鈥檚 a game changer.
鈥淚t鈥檚 going to dramatically open up the doors of refugee resettlement to thousands of Americans who are really eager to participate,鈥� George said.
is one of six government-contracted agencies helping to stand up the new program for private citizens who want to take on the responsibility of resettling a refugee family.
IRIS primarily deals with refugees who have been selected overseas by the State Department, vetted by the Department of Homeland Security and invited to the U.S. The agency鈥檚 job is to welcome them and get them off to a good start.
That used to mean moving refugees to communities not too far from IRIS case managers and volunteers. But George said that during the Syrian crisis in 2016, things changed.
鈥淰olunteers were knocking down our doors saying 鈥榃e want to help out, we want to do more than write a check. We want to do more than donate used furniture. We want to do more than just the pieces of resettlement like tutoring a kid after school or helping somebody find a job,鈥欌�� George said. Volunteers wanted to do everything 鈥� and they asked George for help.
IRIS looked to Canada, which had years of experience training private citizens to sponsor refugees. The agency began training volunteers in communities within 50 miles of New Haven and were able to successfully resettle 300 refugees over a two-year period.
Ann O鈥橞rien of Woodbury helped to resettle a Syrian family in 黑料吃瓜网. Now she works for IRIS and leads the agency鈥檚 role in the new Welcome Corps program. She and George have been leading Zoom gatherings for Americans nationwide interested in sponsoring refugee families.
O鈥橞rien said she鈥檚 amazed by the number of people interested in volunteering.
鈥淥ur first general information session had 5,000 people sign up. And then the next one had another 5,000. And the next week had another 5,000!鈥�
Attendance has slowed somewhat as people learn what it takes to be approved as a Welcome Corps sponsor. Volunteers must raise funds, locate housing and help refugees find jobs and enroll in health care and education.
Susan Suhr co-leads a group in the Waterbury area that has resettled families from Syria, Afghanistan and Ukraine. She coordinates a team of 24 to 36 volunteers to support each new refugee family. Many arrive with nothing, she says, and speak little if any English.
鈥淲e walk beside them. We give them guidance. We help them. We don鈥檛 do it for them. We teach them how to do it in our country.鈥� Suhr said.
鈥淲hat every refugee wants from the very minute they leave their homeland is control of their lives back,鈥� said O鈥橞rien.
That takes time, she acknowledged, and isn鈥檛 easy. Refugees who held important jobs in their home countries may struggle as they start over. Some communities may be more or less welcoming.
But George said that with the right support, the private sponsorship model works.
鈥淭here are people all over the country who would love to have a project that brings people from all parts of their community together, get some training and welcome a family that has fled persecution,鈥� George said. 鈥淚 mean, it doesn鈥檛 get better than that.鈥�
Welcome Corps aims to resettle 5,000 refugees across the U.S. in its first year. Families start arriving in April.
