AFGHANISTAN
RELIEF

World Relief is a trusted partner working to help families find safe homes and being the hands and feet of Jesus.  Since the beginning of August, World Relief has…

October 26, 2021 — World Relief reports the numbers of refugees being served has definitely been rising. It has been a real joy to meet families at the airport and get them started in their lives here. We are still not seeing the surge we expect over the next few months though, due to the fact that so many refugees remain in the processing phase that they must complete before being released to Seattle and our other offices. They must be so anxious to get started! I know we are anxious to be able to welcome them. As you can see from this graphic, FY2022, which just started, is going to be a BIG year! 

                                                                                   

Nationally, there are currently eight military bases across the US hosting 53,000 Afghans who have yet to be released for resettlement. World Relief is planning and preparing to be able to resettle 7,000 from that group, and a large proportion of those will be resettled by the Seattle office. All of the support that your church is providing is such a crucial part of a big effort underway to serve so many people and we are so grateful.

Many people want to volunteer, and we are grateful for them too. Nationally, we’ve had nearly 5,000 new volunteer applications, with more than 1,500 on a waiting list. Of course, once refugees are released from processing into resettlement the opportunities to engage volunteers will begin to grow. For now, the opportunities are somewhat limited.

 

We anticipate over 2000 refugee arrivals from around the world just to our office over the next year, and your partnership is absolutely essential. For the many Afghanistan families entering our region, there are several ways to partner and support the work World Relief is doing.

  • Gift Cards – These help families as they get settled. Suggestions include $25-$50 cards to Safeway, Fred Meyer, WinCo, Goodwill, and Amazon are especially helpful and can be mailed directly to the World Relief office. Please mail gift cards to: World Relief, 23835 Pacific Hwy S, Suite 100, Kent, WA 98032
  • Financial Donation – To make a donation, you can do so through World Relief and give once or monthly. World Relief estimates it costs about $10,000 to resettle a family, and federal funding covers a fraction of this cost – Click here to give.
  • Amazon – Baby Registry – These items are mailed directly to World Relief for distribution to aid arriving families. If interested, please go to Amazon: Baby Registry.
  • Good Neighbor Team – If you are interested in working directly with World Relief staff to welcome newcomers into the community by assisting with housing, language skills, employment, community connection, and so much more, this may be for you. To learn more, Good Neighbor Teams – World Relief.

 

Personal Training, Awareness, and Growth

The needs for the immigrant and refugee in our community continues to grow. Where do you start to learn more? We asked two trusted resources for their recommendations.

 

Kimberly Hurst, World Relief Northwest Director of Strategic Partnerships, suggested:

Jonathan Sharpe, PhD, Director of Church Mobilization, World Concern, suggested: