After beginning our relationship with the International Rescue Committee (IRC) last October, the Refugee Welcome group met the enormity of the wave of 70,000 Afghan refugees arriving at one time to America, through the welcoming portal of the IRC. 350 of these Afghan refugees relocated to the Charlottesville area. We volunteered to mentor a family and organized our congregation who provided household furniture and supplies. Our sponsored Afghan family moved into their new home in December. Eight Mentors continue to engage in active relationships with “our family,” helping them adjust to their new life in America and creating a home here.

We also met the great numbers of families still living in local hotels, for whom Charlottesville’s crises in affordable housing was a huge barrier. One of our Mentors began to volunteer with these families and brought back stories of the difficulties they faced. Those stories were carried by us to our own friends and family and an anonymous donor contributed $20,000 to UUCC for us to “oversee,” so that the money would be used most effectively to meet the needs of these “hotel refugees.”

A subcommittee of the Refugee Welcome Committee reviewed the barriers the refugees were experiencing and the organizations that were responding to those barriers. Transportation is a major barrier since affordable housing is frequently beyond the urban ring served by public transportation. At this point, most of the families remaining in hotels and waiting for housing are large families. Affordable housing is even scarcer for these families and not in the urban ring. International Neighbors was both responsive to our request to designate the donation towards the purchase of cars and to provide reports about our donation. We hope that International Neighbors will be able to find additional resources to help with the purchase of cars and with the initial expenses owning a car incurs. Please help us spread the word so we can help International Neighbors find additional donated cars.