“They become sort of an arm that helps the case workers, because they’re present to the arrivals in a way that case workers can’t be,” she explained. Once the major aspects of resettlement are addressed, the agency relies on what Buckley-Brawner referred to “circles of care.” “They provide English language learning, and they also assist us in helping find employment opportunities.” “They’ve been really valuable,” she said. “They start with relatively nothing in that realm,” Buckley-Brawner said.įor families with young people, she added, once housing is established, the agency works with local superintendents to enroll students into the district.īuckley-Brawner said Catholic Charities partners with organizations throughout the region, including the Islamic Society of Western Massachusetts, and the Center for New Americans, based in Northampton with offices in Greenfield. These agencies handle some of the major aspects of resettlement, including locating temporary and permanent housing, as well as helping them acquire documentation cards and setting them up for certain benefits.
The other agencies are Jewish Family Service of Western Massachusetts, also in Springfield, and Ascentria Care Alliance, with a local office in West Springfield.
are slim, and it takes a while to get someone into permanent housing.” “We knew from the get-go that the influx would be such a large number that there would be little way we could take them and put them into immediate permanent housing. “We’ve received 55 (Afghan humanitarian parolees) in the space of a month and a half,” said Buckley-Brawner, explaining that a “parolee” in this case is an individual granted special consideration for resettlement. troops from the country in August and the Taliban takeover. military bases, since the withdrawal of U.S. “Our circles of care are made up of people from all walks of life who have come forward to say we want to be part of a group that surrounds the Afghan arrivals with friendship, opportunity, resources - you name it.”Ĭatholic Charities, based in Springfield, is one of three agencies helping to resettle hundreds of the 60,000 or so refugees from Afghanistan, many of whom have been living on U.S. “We’ve been very fortunate just to have really wonderful people doing exceptional work,” said Kathryn Buckley-Brawner, executive director of Catholic Charities, which has been helping to resettle Afghan evacuees in the region since Oct. GREENFIELD - With the help of local agencies and community volunteers, three Afghan evacuees settled into permanent housing this week.
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