The United States Department of State contracted two non-profit organizations in Nashville to resettle some of the Afghanistan people who got airlifted from Kabul as the US withdrew from Afghanistan. After the Department of State vetted them, those people have been moved to Nashville city since September 2020.
As of the first week of March 2022, those few refugees have come to the city, and they await resettlements through the Nashville International Center for Empowerment and Catholic Charities of the Diocese of Nashville.
The American Muslim Advisory Council and United Way of Greater Nashville have worked with NICE and Catholic Charities to set up the so-called Welcoming Nashville Fund for the refugees. Several refugees are coming with little except for their clothing. The funding will be used to help them and the others find jobs, supplies and homes. The government gave each Afghan $1,025 as a one-off payment, and it was meant to last three months.
Judy Orr of Catholic Charities said that the ultimate objective is for all resettled families to be self-reliant at the earliest. Catholic Charities has years of resettlement experience that informs it that the process typically takes at least around six months according to the family. As for Orr, Catholic Charities is at the start of an extremely long and familiar process to help many Afghan families.
According to Orr, it is important to remember that many Afghan refugees coming to the city have undergone traumatic circumstances that would require specialized funding and skills to resolve. Orr also stated that all families would face the time-consuming and costly process of applying for asylum.
The Afghans in Tennessee are described as refugees, but they did not come to the nation through the so-called Refugee Admissions Program. Entering the country thus would have given them more benefits and rights, like EBT, SNAP or subsidized healthcare perks.
As a process, it takes many years to enter the country in the form of a refugee and necessitates a much more rigorous approach. The US instead chose to bring them here for temporary humanitarian reasons under the parole status. That designation offers permission to stay in the US for just two years.
United Way of Greater Nashville spokesperson Sarah Bishop said that temporary housing has been among the main costs for evacuees from Afghanistan. As for Bishop, numerous people came to Nashville city so fast that it becomes virtually not possible to get a local apartment lease instantly.
For numerous factors, an Airbnb location is the most convenient source for a place of accommodation for Afghans up to the time NICE or Catholic Charities can get a lease. Nashville natives can take numerous different avenues to aid the people from Afghanistan in their location.
A Catholic Charities representative stated that a donation of $1,500 would sustain a four-member family for one month, $250 would help buy kitchenware, and $1,000 would furnish the kitchen and living room. Natives can donate to help the families with the legal charges as they will seek asylum with the help of the aforementioned fund.
Are you a person who looks to donate products instead of money? If so, you could shop for the products from the Amazon wishlist that Catholic Charities created.