By Ken Jarvis, Area Media Specialist
Another Saturday rolls around and one more refugee family arrives in San Antonio, homeless and with little more than the clothes on their backs. Just as predictably, another Latter-day Saint ward is ready to meet their needs.
This time it’s the Alamo Ranch Ward, San Antonio Texas Stake. Heather Haskin, Ward Relief Society First Counselor said, “We got an email from our Stake Relief Society telling us about the opportunity and I just jumped on it. I’ve been reading about all these people from Afghanistan and wanted to do something, even if it was just a little. I thought back to all the talks that our Church leaders have given in the past couple of years about refugees and how we should reach out and my heart was ready to do that.”
Kristen Holmes, the ward Relief Society Compassionate Service Leader said, “We got lists from the Refugee Center, sent them out to our members and the response has been phenomenal; clothes, toys, everything that they should need to get them started.”
One item on the list was a carafe to put tea in. Serving hot tea is extremely important in the Muslim culture, but for Latter-day Saints…not so much. Holmes couldn’t find anyone who had one so they went on-line. “We found one and it was perfect!”
Haskin added that it wasn’t just adults that helped. “Our Primary boys put together some tables from Ikea. They also drew some pictures for the family.” She added, “Everything was about ready to go but, of all things, we didn’t have kitchen knives. So a young boy took his own money and bought them for the new family.”
So a family arrives in their new home and some local residents have the experience of a lifetime helping them get settled. But who puts all this together?
That enormous task is the responsibility of the Center for Refugee Services in San Antonio. Joann Franck is one of two Donations Coordinators. “I’ve been doing this for about six years,” she said. “We bring household goods and furniture, piece by piece, to brand new families.” When the number of refugees arriving is very low someone would donate an item and “…We would coordinate a pickup and get it delivered directly to the recipient.”
But then came the Afghan refugees. “Based on initial projections we’re anticipating about 500 Afghans, total, to arrive in San Antonio. We’ve had about 100 arrive so far,” Franck said. To collect and distribute enough household goods to meet the needs of all these people would overwhelm this small organization. She said that what is making this program work now, “…is that your wards are doing all the collecting and all the distribution in one big event. So the families are being serviced much more efficiently because when they arrive in their apartment they are given everything, or nearly everything and sometimes much more.” She added that if one family receives more than they need they share.
There is still the question of what we can do to help the families feel settled? “The next step for them,” Franck replied, “is to get a job and to enroll their children in school. Some women will enroll in English classes, some will not. Building relationships will be a slower process. The father will probably work every single day.”
In the Muslim culture if the husband is gone it is acceptable for women to visit the home but not men. The best thing to do would be to touch base with the families that we’ve helped. Check in every week or couple of weeks in the beginning just to keep tabs and say “hello”. “And for families without a job and without food stamps their need for food will be great,” said Franck.
A volunteer herself, Franck said, “What your Latter-day Saint wards are doing right now has not only eased the burden for myself and my partner, you have also met the needs of these families so beautifully.”
Want to help? JustServe