AUSTIN, Texas — Usually Refugee Services of Texas has plenty of time to prepare to welcome those coming from other countries to make the U.S. their new home.
But with the sudden fall of Afghanistan, time was short, with only a few hours to get ready to help Afghanis escaping their home country.
"Usually when it's a refugee family, we get about two weeks, and that allows us enough time to gather volunteers and set up the apartment and gather all the basic necessities," said Ashley Faye, development director for Refugee Services of Texas. "Now we're getting maybe five hours that a family is coming, and so we have a massive amount of staff and volunteers just ready to pitch in and we're using hotels as emergency placements at times. But yeah, we're just trying to move as quick as we can."
Refugee Services of Texas is the largest resettlement agency in the state with six sites. It serves displaced persons from around the world. Right now it's scrambling to handle the wave of Afghans in need of help. So far, it plans to settle 324 Afghans in Texas, 107 of them in Austin, but that number could change quickly.
"That's just the initial wave," Faye said. "As far as whether they stay here, usually they're placed here on the basis of family ties, so maybe they already know someone that lives here or just because of the large Afghan community that's been established."
Those who arrive are traumatized after being ripped away from a country where they'd spent their entire lives, losing almost everything in the process. But Faye said the refugees know it's better than what they would have suffered if they had stayed.
"It's truly a life-or-death situation at this point," she said. "We hear horror stories of what people go through every day, and it's incredibly inspirational to see their resilience. It really helps to tap into your empathy to realize that they're starting an entire life from scratch, not knowing the culture or the language and having just been through this trauma and no notice of resettlement. It's definitely a lot."
Once the refugees are in Texas, the service's staff and volunteers spring into action.
"When they actually get here, an agency like ours picks them up at the airport. We take them to a newly furnished apartment that we work together with volunteers to put together and decorate," Faye said. "They receive all their basic necessities, clothing, food, things like that, and then case management starts right away. They're assigned a case manager that they have for around six months, and that person helps enroll the kids in school, helps them find a doctor, just all those mundane things that we all need to do, and we have a job placement program. We place them in jobs as soon as possible. Their ultimate goal is to reach self-sufficiency as quickly as possible, and our goal is to help them do that."
Faye said people across the state have pitched in, donating money and their time in this emergency situation.
"Our hearts are warmed by the outpouring of donations that people have given so generously with comments about the work that is being done and how well they wish our new Afghan neighbors," Faye said. "Financial donations are always needed, especially right now. There's a lot of emergency situations, as you can imagine. There's also a lot of ways to volunteer and set up apartments and things."
If you would like to help, go to the Refugee Services of Texas website.
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