Opportunities to Assist Afghan Refugees
The South Shore Action Committee is a group of volunteers based on the South Shore who are working directly with RIAC – the Refugee and Immigration Assistance Committee, a non-profit organization based out of Boston, that is dedicated to providing assistance to refugees and evacuees. RIAC has committed to resettling between 400 – 500 Afghan evacuees from Afghanistan, primarily in the communities of Boston (Dorchester), Lynn, Worcester and Quincy. Each of those cities already has sizeable Afghan populations so the evacuees will have some semblance of a support system in place once they are relocated to more permanent housing.
Evacuees do not have the same level of support from the US Federal Government that ‘refugees’ are provided. They are living temporarily on US military bases and are given $1000/month/person for three months, SNAP benefits, Medicaid, and work papers, including word ID’s and Social Security numbers. Most have only the clothes on their backs. Many don’t have winter coats or shoes.
The South Shore Action Committee is eager for members of our congregation to become involved in the work being done in this area to resettle Afghan evacuees.
Members of our congregation can get involved in any of the following ways:
- Household donations (primarily furniture). Due to the small size of the apartments, the Committee cannot use large furniture such as sofas or large dining tables;
- Clothing (new or used Winter coats for men, women and children; new clothes for adults; used clothes for infants and toddlers);
- Assistance in putting together WelcomeBaskets;
- Volunteering to help with shopping, attending appointments, sharing a cup of tea, etc.;
- Tutoring (English); and
- Donations of money.
- Monetary donations can be made either to South Shore Action’s GoFundMe page or through checks.
- One can also send a check to RIAC directly and as it is a 501c3 organization; that may be preferable if donations require that status of an organization for you to contribute to. I’ve attached the 501c3 form for you. You’d make the check out to RIAC and mail it to RIAC 253 Roxbury Street Boston, MA 02119. If you’d kindly add SSA or South Shore Action on the notation line of the check, RIAC will flag it and send the funds back to us to use locally for the families we are servicing down on the South Shore.
- One can purchase a gift card at Stop and Shop or a Visa gift card that the evacuees can use to buy their own food and needs, as well.
Please contact the Outreach Committee with areas in which you may like to get involved. Kate Mullally is helping to coordinate our participation and can help connect you to the person on the Committee who is responsible for managing volunteers in each of the above areas.