By Casey Britten
In mid-August, thousands of Afghan citizens received word that it was time to evacuate. They had little time to prepare before they hurriedly left their homeland.
“Refugees flee one country, seek shelter in a second and are ultimately resettled in a third,” says Mary Flynn, program manager for refugee resettlement with Lutheran Social Services. “With Afghanistan, it happened extremely quickly, so we see some very tired people. They’ve been very fatigued by the process.”
For area groups working to help Afghan refugees, finding them a permanent place to live is the top priority.
“There’s a feeling of relief for the refugees when they finally feel settled,” says Tami McLaughlin, director of World Relief Fox Valley. “That’s why we work so hard at housing first. It gives them a place to begin.”
Multiple humanitarian organizations are working with about 850 Afghan refugees in Wisconsin in what is known as the Afghan Placement Assistance (APA) program. The organizations receive a one-time disbursement for each refugee in the APA program to be used for a security deposit and as much rent as possible. Basic needs like housing, health care, school enrollment and grocery shopping come first. Then they help them with employment training and job placement.
World Relief Fox Valley works with immigrants and refugees in the Fox Cities, from Appleton to Oshkosh. It expects to work with around 200 Afghan refugees in the coming year. Because there is already an established Afghan refugee population in Appleton and Menasha, it is focusing on the Appleton area. “It’s helpful to have people of the same culture in proximity,” McLaughlin says. “They have a shared experience, so they can relate to each other.”
Based in Milwaukee, Lutheran Social Services is working to place refugees within a 100-mile radius of its home office. It also anticipates working with about 200 Afghan refugees this year. “Our goal is to help them get settled and start teaching them about life in the United States,” Flynn says. “Once they’ve had a chance to rest and know they’re safe, then we help them get a job as soon as possible so that they are self-sufficient.”
Employment fit is key, so the process of job placement starts with assessments.
“We’ve had a lot of questions already about employment,” McLaughlin says. “Afghan refugees are very motivated to work. But we want to make good placements so it’s a win-win for both the employer and the employee.”
Refugees have a broad range of skills and education. “There are people with limited education — maybe they weren’t able to go to school or they don’t have a transferrable skill — and then there are others who are very skilled with advanced degrees and speak excellent English,” Flynn says.
“There are a lot of employers in Wisconsin that are really willing to give new arrivals a chance,” Flynn adds. “LSS has a robust employment preparation orientation that gets people ready to enter the workforce.”
It also connects refugees with employers; helps them with applications, interviews and orientations; and provides continuing support to both the employer and the employee to make sure the employee retains the job.
“Retention is about 80 percent after 90 days of starting a job,” Flynn says. “Refugees make great employees. If you give them a chance, they will repay you.”
Both Flynn and McLaughlin agree people can help in several ways. Because the Afghans have entered the United States as humanitarian parolees, they must apply for asylum, which is a long, complicated and expensive process. They have arrived without key documentation, which can cause delays and put them at risk of being unable to pay rent, so cash donations are critical.
In addition, landlords can help by offering housing options for refugees. Or people can form a co-sponsor group to provide support to families in the form of home visits, basic English lessons or even just a visit to a museum.
Finally, McLaughlin offers, “Learn as much as you can about the Afghan situation. When we work to understand the struggle, we can learn from it.”
worldrelief.org/fox-valleylsswis.org
