As U.S. forces pulled out of Afghanistan in August, Jewish Family Services of Delaware pledged to help 30 refugees start a new life in the First State. Since then, 24 individuals from Afghanistan, plus another 18 from Rwanda, Sudan, and other countries have begun the resettlement process in New Castle County.
The 24 Afghan refugees are among thousands who’ve been staying at military bases in the U.S., getting vaccinated and background-checked while waiting to be settled. Another 25 refugees are expected before the end of the year.
“Now, that doesn’t sound like a lot when there are 64,000 people waiting to resettle, but it was what we knew we could manage,” said Rosi Crosby, chief strategy officer for JFS Delaware, which manages the state’s refugee program.
“The key to managing and resettling an individual is obviously housing, food security, employment, transportation, and education. And so JFS spent between six and eight weeks working with many, many partners in the community to find sufficient housing,” she said.
The first Afghan refugees sent to Delaware in September were a mother and her three sons, two teenagers, and an eight-year-old. They were helped by an interfaith collaboration between Congregation Beth Shalom, Westminster Presbyterian Church, Tarbiyah Islamic School, and the Islamic Society of Delaware.
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Two dozen refugees from Afghanistan and elsewhere settling in Delaware, more on the way
