Interfaith Refugee Family Support Initiative
With our members’ volunteer and financial support, the Interfaith Refugee Family Support Initiative has helped resettle refugee families over the last eight years in cooperation with resettlement agencies such as Lutheran Social Services. Also, we have set up nine apartments for newly arrived refugee families ourselves and volunteered with Homes Not Borders to set up many more.

The abrupt termination of federal financial support for refugee resettlement has led to chaos and hardship among newly-arrived refugees. Resettlement agencies had to lay off their staff and are not able to provide the initial three months of rent payment and case management to help refugees find jobs, sign the kids up for school, etc. Our Interfaith Refugee Family Support Initiative is appealing to our congregations to help bridge the financial gap left by the funding cutoff. Emergency rent payments are most critical to avoid eviction for refugees who have not yet obtained employment. Homes Not Borders has furnished hundreds of apartments for refugees per year and has now stepped in to help with rental assistance and case management. Most funds collected will be used to support refugees through Homes Not Borders, a registered 501(c)(3) organization. Some funds may be used to provide direct support to individual refugee families who need assistance. The Refugee Support Initiative has done this responsibly with several families since its inception in 2016.

Recent update from Homes Not Borders:
“Although we’ve raised $72,000 for rental assistance, we have already given out $63,461(in just one month) to 35 newly arrived refugee families. But we have 27 refugee families that we know, so far, who need rental assistance for April. This included 10 SIV (special immigrant visa holders who supported the U.S. troops in Afghanistan) who just arrived in the United States (share this Morning Edition story on NPR) ….. resettlement agencies simply cannot not help anymore and it’s up to us, together, to do what we can.”

As of 3/24/25 we have collected $7,930. THANK YOU! If you are able, please contribute to the Interfaith Refugee initiative. Donations are tax deductible. We hope to raise $30,000 this month but any amount helps!

Please make checks payable to BHPC with REFUGEE FUND in the memo line or donate through REALM.

We and those we serve thank you for your support,

Brigitte Burgett and Evelyn Ganzglass
Co-chairs of the Interfaith Refugee Family Support Initiative.