Third will be engaging with the International Rescue Committee (IRC) to assist 3 to 4 refugee families resettling in our area. We will work with IRC's HOME Program to prepare a home for our family, and outfit it with furniture and accessories. We'll also assist with the family's rent expenses.
Once we receive our first family, we may only have a 24-48 hour turnaround time to prepare for their arrival! So we need all the pieces in place before they arrive.
Here are your three ways to get involved!
Consider becoming a core team member for our first refugee family. We need 8-10 volunteers to work directly with the family for a minimum of six months.
The core team will assist the family in various ways, such as; assisting with grocery shopping, providing transportation for the family to appointments, and helping with things like registering children for school, navigating this new culture, learning English, and more.
The time commitment is 2-hours per week for approximately 6 months. It is so worth it!
IRC will offer a training session for each core team that works with each family. If you want to understand more about refugees so you can be sensitive to how to serve them best, we suggest A Better Country: Embracing Refugees in our Midst by Cindy Wu. We still have a few free copies available. Email Rebecca Hatton for a book or to join this team!
Donate items the family will need. Check out the sign-up genius for our first family to help prepare their home.
We are beginning to collect donations now! Once our first family settles, we'll send out a dinner sign-up genius as well.
Interested in serving in other creative ways— bringing dinner, have an apartment for rent, donating a used car, or something else? Get on the list to stay up to date with the latest on our incoming refugee families and their needs by emailing Rebecca.
We've heard one story after another of how congregants' lives were transformed by coming alongside refugees in the HOME Program. What a great chance to embrace our new neighbors and display the love of Christ!
