Board hears update on Afghan refugees
MANCHESTER — The Select Board heard an update on efforts to welcome refugees from Afghanistan to the Northshire, learning that the first group of eight displaced people will land in Albany, N.Y., some time in the near future and make their way here for a new start.
Yvonne Lodico, the founder of Grace Initiative Global, told the board and a capacity crowd at Manchester Town Hall’s Kilburn Meeting Room on Tuesday night that the group likely would be family. She said they’re due to arrive as soon as late April, and efforts to find housing — a difficult task for anyone in current market conditions — are continuing, with groups dedicating resources to that task.
The refugees will be working with case manager Sadina Rasooli, an Afghan native who emigrated here five years ago and previously worked as an interpreter with the U.S. State Department. Rasooli will arrive late next week.
The United States withdrew from Afghanistan last year after a 20-year war, originally intended to root out Al-Qaeda after the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks on New York and Washington. Thousands of Afghan citizens were airlifted out of the country for fear that their work with Americans would lead to reprisals.
According to Lodico, about 83,000 Afghan refugees have resettled in the U.S. to date.
“They’re very serious,” she said of them generally. “They don’t drink. They don’t do drugs. They will strive to make it.”
“The most important thing they want to do is work hard, go to school and be a part of the community in a positive way,” Lodico said.
She said to date, Vermont has had good fortune with welcoming Afghan refugees and retaining them as new neighbors and citizens.
“When people come they like the community,” she said. The state has a need for workers, and most adult refugees have found jobs.
Grace Initiative Global is partnering with Episcopal Migration Ministries, one of nine nongovernmental organizations working with the State Department to help Afghan refugees find new homes here. It’s anticipated that about 18 to 20 refugees will resettle in the Northshire.
“If we get refugees beyond the group that comes this summer, we have a 100-mile radius to place people,” Lodico said. “We want to keep the first group in this area, because this is new for us; we want to make sure it’s perfect. We can then teach other people how to resettle.”
She said support has been widespread, including from religious communities and schools. The Dorset Library is planning a garden where the new arrivals can grow food, she said, and has ordered books in their native languages.
Original article from ManchesterJournal.com