Last August, Welcome Corps accepted our application to be matched with a refugee family through a USCIS-approved sponsorship program. Members of our group began making arrangements, gathering furniture and housewares and putting out calls to local landlords. We knew it would take some time for the family to be cleared for travel by the State Department, but we envisioned helping them settle in no later than September. We learned the family’s names, ages, and former occupations in October. Then nothing. We held out hope that they might come before the end of the year, but the family never arrived. On January 24, we learned the program had been suspended indefinitely, and all pending applications for legal entry would be rejected. The family would not be coming.

​

Within days, we learned of a newly arrived family from Afghanistan (Nisar Bayat, his wife Pakiza, and their 7-month-old daughter) who had come to Redding on a Diversity Visa. DV status grants the family permanent residency, including green cards that allow them to live and work in the United States and eventually apply for citizenship. 

​

Nisar and Pakiza had social security cards and work authorizations, but little else, so our group jumped into action to help them start rebuilding their lives. The first week of February, members of our group secured an apartment and helped the family move in, furnishing their new home with many of the items we’d gathered for the family that never arrived. We drove Nisar around town so he could buy food for his family and helped him set up banking, utilities, and internet services. Although the family now relies on us for transportation, we will sign over a donated car to Nisar once he secures a driver’s license and insurance. Our group will also help pay for the family’s first six months of living expenses while Nisar looks for the job that will enable him to support his family independently.

​

While much of our preliminary work for the family is complete, Nisar and Pakiza will need ongoing support with community orientation and language acquisition. Volunteers are also needed to help the family set up regular medical and dental care, find meaningful work, and connect with community services and events. If you are able to join us in donating your time and talent to these endeavors, you’ll not only be providing life-changing assistance to our new neighbors and making new friends – you’ll also be demonstrating in the most meaningful way that the spirit of welcome is still alive and strong in Redding.