Afghan Resettlement

CSI Refugee Resettlement Committee is a group of CSI members and friends dedicated to providing a welcoming and supportive community for a refugee family. We are recognized by HIAS as an official “Community Sponsorship Organization” trained and prepared to welcome and integrate a HIAS sponsored refugee family in our community. There is a lot of work to be done to help our new neighbors restart their lives locally and eventually become self-sufficient, independent members of our community. Join us! As a committee of volunteers, we will identify affordable housing, collect furniture and clothing, stock the shelves with food and necessary items, and connect the family to public benefits (including Medicaid and SNAP). We’ll also need volunteers to orient the family to life in America. That orientation will likely involve enrolling children in school, identifying ESOL resources, identifying employment opportunities, and learning how to use public transportation. Whether you have a lot of time or a little, please join us. We need your help and your financial contributions.

HIAS Partnership Model
HIAS New York uses a collaborative model that includes a partnership between professional refugee resettlement services and volunteer groups called host organizations. HIAS New York’s partnership with host organizations was first developed in response to an outpouring of support for refugees by Jewish congregations in Westchester County and New York City. This model builds on HIAS’ extensive experience in resettlement and integration, as well as connections with a deeply engaged volunteer network that offers financial and human capital to support our refugee clients. Host organizations, which can be a single congregation or a coalition of congregations, organizations, and/or institutions working together, including interfaith groups, assume the responsibility to welcome newly arrived refugees and SIVs the way a family member would do so. To do so, host organizations support the basic needs of refugee or SIV individuals/families as well as help facilitate integration and self-sufficiency.

Please consider volunteering to help resettle an Afghan refugee family here in our community. There are many ways that you can help. We need volunteers who can make both large and small commitments of time and resources. Please use this form to indicate how you might be able to assist in this important work. Please also indicate if you would be able to consider a leadership role in organizing this work.