Update on Our Refugee Family
The Afghan refugee family assigned to Annapolis Friends Meeting (AFM) and Unitarian Universalist Church of Annapolis (UUCA) by the Lutheran resettlement agency (LSSNCA) has made much progress in the last year, but they will still need our help for at least another six months. We are grateful for your generous financial, in-kind, and gifts of time supporting them over the last year and ask that you consider additional support to help the family move toward self-sufficiency.
With our help, our family has settled into housing in the Silver Spring area. The mother is attending ESL and her language skills are rapidly improving. The two older boys are successfully attending public school. The family is now responsible for their own transportation, after our help in their learning to drive and the gift of a used car. The father found a job (almost full-time) in his field as a surveyor.
The family still faces major challenges to become self-supporting. The father recently resigned from his job because walking and standing exacerbated long-standing leg injuries from an Afghan insurgents’ attack. He is in constant pain. He is currently looking for temporary work that can be done while sitting, as he gets his leg treated. Even with full-time wages, however, one income is not enough to cover their monthly bills. Their rent is now $2,140 per month, utilities and internet/phone another $500, food, medicine, and insurance costs nearly another $2,000 per month – and this is just the basics. While they still receive some government assistance for food, until both parents are able to work, they will not be able to make ends meet on their own.
We ask for both one-time gifts and pledges. The youngest child is still in diapers and in-kind gifts of diapers: either pull-ups in size one or two, or size 5 diapers will be greatly appreciated. We may have other in-kind requests later on.
How You Can Help
Financial Donations:
Send checks to Unitarian Universalist Church of Annapolis, 333 Dubois Road, Annapolis, MD 21401, and noted for UUCA Refugee Resettlement Fund.
In-kind:
Please contact Lisa Fleeharty (efleeharty@hotmail.com) to arrange a pick-up.
Employment suggestions:
With a small child still at home, the mother is looking for work she can do from home that requires only limited English, like cooking, other hand work, or work on a computer. Several engineers are working with the father to find CAD work he can do sitting, but he is looking for hotel clerk employment as a stop-gap. If you have any specific leads, please email Jo Anna at joanneschneider77@gmail.com
Ad Hoc Committee on Afghan Airlift Refugee Resettlement