Worcester’s support for Ukraine was evident Tuesday as its anthem played at a city council meeting while its yellow and blue flag waved outside, but the city is limited in the support it can offer Ukrainians fleeing war. Read more

When Safiya Wazir arrived in New Hampshire 15 years ago, she was fleeing the Taliban in Afghanistan. Although her circumstances were different than those of the new Afghan evacuees now resettling in the state, there are some similarities in their experiences. Wazir knows the trauma of war, the difficult task of adjusting to a new language and culture, and what it’s like to rebuild a life from scratch.

She now serves as a state representative and works with the new Afghan arrivals through her job at Ascentria, one of the state’s resettlement agencies. One of her goals is to help people understand what new refugees are facing as they start over in New Hampshire.

In the middle of the worst pandemic in a century, communities around the country are welcoming at least 70,000 Afghans to the United States. Our organizations, Ascentria Care Alliance and the International Institute of New England (IINE), expect to resettle more than 200 Afghans in the Granite State by the middle of February, nearly three times as many refugees as New Hampshire welcomed in all of last year.

The experiences of Afghan evacuees are a sobering reminder of the trauma refugees face when fleeing their home countries. In their evacuations, Afghans in our services left everything behind — homes, personal possessions, friends and family. They worry about loved ones living in a nation that is quickly becoming the world’s greatest humanitarian crisis.

PORTSMOUTH — Two fuzzy stuffed animals — a monkey with a red cap and a dog — sit nuzzled together in a box inside the two-story rectory beside Christ Episcopal Church.

The toys, among a host of other donated goods and household needs, are awaiting the arrival of their new owners — a family of six Afghan refugees resettling in Portsmouth this month. 

Four months after the U.S. officially concluded its military withdrawal from Afghanistan, more than 50,000 refugees have been evacuated from the country and resettled in communities across the U.S., including the Upper Valley. Local community members have been providing support to help Afghan refugees settle down and welcoming them to their new homes. Read more

New Hampshire’s housing shortage has slowed the process of resettling Afghan evacuees, according to two local organizations. Of the 150 Afghan evacuees who have arrived to New Hampshire since November, about half of them remain in hotels. Read more

Worcester, MA: Mass. Refugee Resettlement Agencies, the nonprofits tasked by the federal government with welcoming and resettling hundreds of Afghan immigrants, praised the inclusion of $12 million in the $3.65 billion House spending bill that draws from last year’s state budget surplus and over half of the American Rescue Plan funds. We are hopeful that the Senate will be equally supportive of this funding as the budget process moves forward. Read more

In 2019, The Heath Foundation of Central Massachusetts (THFCM) awarded Ascentria Cara Alliance (ACA) an $81,600 Activation Grant for ACA’s Immigration Legal Assistance Program (ILAP).  The funding allowed ILAP to expand its low cost legal assistance for immigrants and refugees by offering full legal representation to low income clients who could afford to pay reduced legal fees.  The demand for those services has exceeded the capacity of current ILAP staff that was funded by THFCM, so ACA has decided to build upon their start-up funding, and to add two full time attorneys and four paralegals to meet the increased demand. Read more