Helping Afghanistan Refugees through Lutheran Family Services

Last year our church began building a relationship with Lutheran Family Services in Greeley. During Advent and Christmas we reflected on Jesus, Mary and Joseph who were themselves refugees, and sought to help refugees in our community. Lutheran Family Services is one of the refugee resettlement agencies in the United States. They are currently preparing to help resettle refugees from Afghanistan in Colorado and are going to need help. St. Luke's is a church on-call to help when the time comes. There may be concrete ways we can help such as setting up apartments and being mentors for families. We aren't sure yet when that will happen. Until then, there are a number of ways that we can help LFS prepare for their arrival. Read on for some more information from Lutheran Family Services.

When will refugees and SIVs from the emergency evacuations be arriving in Colorado? How many people will be coming here?

We don’t know—US-based resettlement agencies such as ourselves are not involved in the evacuation itself, and there are a lot of uncertainties about timing and logistics right now, as you have surely seen in the news. What we do know is that LFSRM and all the other resettlement agencies are preparing for when they do arrive. And Afghan refugees and SIVs have been part of our caseload for years, so we are using that experience to prepare to serve those who are evacuated due to current events as well!

How can I help?

Here are some of the most common ways that we can use the support of our welcoming community (you!):

Donating household items or furniture for new refugee families:

To purchase new household items: we have an Amazon wish list: https://www.amazon.com/hz/wishlist/ls/2U48TK6SNBNE9?ref_=wl_share; items ship to LFSRM staff person.

·         To donate used household items or furniture, you are in the right place. Please allow up to a week for response (we have limited storage space, so please understand that we may not be able to accept your donation; because of our busy schedules, donation pickups may be difficult at this time).

Volunteer:

·         We are in need of Cultural Mentor volunteers. Each mentor team of 4-6 volunteers is matched with a new refugee family in Greeley, Fort Collins, or Fort Morgan. Mentors make a commitment of 6 months/ with a minimum of 4 -6 hours per month, but more hours are appreciated.

·         Register for a volunteer informational session here: https://www.lfsrm.org/get-involved/volunteer/ 

Financial support:

·         We will need rental support for new refugee families. Contribute here (https://www.lfsrm.org/give-now/donate/) and select “Refugee and Asylee Programs;” if desired, you can indicate “Afghanistan response” or “Refugee North Office” in the comment field; if you do not write a comment, funds will support our refugee programs in general (items such as case management, employment services, and purchasing household items).

Housing:

·         If you are a landlord and are interested in renting a unit to a refugee family, please send information on your property and contact info and we will get back to you soon.

·         We are currently keeping a list of those interested in providing temporary housing (~2 weeks, free of charge). However, this is a limited need at this time as the timing of arrivals is uncertain. Please email back with name, address contact info, and capacity information to be added to the list.

Advocacy:

·         Write your elected officials to express your support for Afghan refugees and SIVs

·         Advocacy toolkit: https://www.lirs.org/emergency-evacuation-afghan-allies-action-alert