Build just and welcoming communities The best resource for people wanting to help is through their website. SACRAMENTO Gov. Over 40% of the nation's Afghan refugees have resettled in the Sacramento region in recent years, according to Jessie Tientcheu, chief executive officer of Opening Doors, a resettlement agency based in Sacramento. The cookie is set by the GDPR Cookie Consent plugin and is used to store whether or not user has consented to the use of cookies. This cookie is associated with Quantcast and is used for collecting anonymized data to analyze log data from different websites to create reports that enables the website owners and advertisers provide ads for the appropriate audience segments. These cookies will be stored in your browser only with your consent. First off, it is because of the weather; second, it is cheap; the third [reason] is it is a larger community and it feels like home, Khuram said. This cookie is set by the provider Infolinks. In addition to his work with his nonprofit, Naikbeen is studying at American River College with hopes of becoming a nurse. Walking alongside immigrants, refugees, and survivors of trafficking As we walk alongside our newest neighbors, we connect them with resources, help them navigate complicated systems, and support them in gaining access to education, employment, and healthcare. The cookie helps in avoiding the same ad showing repeatedly. Updated: Sep 9, 2021 / 05:59 PM PDT. Kerry Ham is the director of World Relief Sacramento. He held an economics degree from Kabul University and had higher goals than mere subsistence living in his new country. This cookie is used for registering unique ID for identifying the returning user's device. Already home to one of the largest Afghan communities in the country, the Sacramento area is receiving an influx of refugees displaced by the Taliban's swift takeover of Afghanistan in the. It's one of the most popular locations for Afghan immigrants. Washington state, Pennsylvania, New York, Florida and Arizona each took in more than 2,000 evacuees, collectively resettling 11,721 Afghans. Sacramento County. The county has several responsibilities when it comes to assisting this population at this time and has been in regular communication with our federal and state partners in preparation. "My feeling is that we will likely see a larger number than that figure over the . 1 issue, no doubt, says Jessie Tientcheu, the CEO of Opening Doors, one of five local resettlement agencies working with Afghan families to provide food and shelter. My kids and I went to MAS SSF in 2008, at a time when we needed counseling and support. We also carry rice that only Afghans use, as well as import almonds and nuts that our people are familiar with and you cant find anywhere else in Sacramento.. PO Box 15246 "Texas and California have been the top two states for receiving Afghans; those are also the top two states that usually receive most refugees.". We also know there is a huge community here in distress, many of whom have family in Afghanistan. First published on February 24, 2022 / 10:41 AM. Resources for the Afghan Community September 3, 2021 Our hearts are with the Afghan community both in the Sacramento region and abroad. Just wanted to extend a warm thank you for a grade A presentation on parenting at Salam Academy. Sacramento, CA 95821. "What makes us unique and one of a kind is that we have a team of experts whether it's staff, our . Office Hours . The State Department numbers obtained by CBS News denote how many Afghans departed military sites to resettle near one of 283 local offices affiliated with nine national resettlement agencies, which are responsible for finding homes for evacuees and financing their initial expenses, including food, rent and other basic necessities. He describes these people as fleeing war and violence, their mental status fragile. This cookie is set by HubSpot. The 39-year-old Afghan refugee, who lives in Sacramento, had brought his family back to his native country for a three-week vacation and to attend his brother's wedding in Kabul, the country's capital. Get browser notifications for breaking news, live events, and exclusive reporting. I didnt leave the hotel room much after that.. They said I had to make an appointment and it would take one or two months to get one. We also work to ensure the services we provide are culturally appropriate and trauma-informed. Now, every Sacramento resident who hails from Afghanistan knows of the market and likely shops there. I had to change routes and residences frequently in Afghanistan to avoid being killed by the Taliban. Some, like Zahra Yagana, are finding help in unexpected places. Advocate: https://worldrelief.org/sacramento/get-involved/advocate/. The ID is used for targeting Ads to the user. Matthew Soerens, head of church mobilization at World Relief, one of the refugee resettlement agencies, said the relocation of many evacuees to Texas, California and Virginia can be attributed to large Afghan-American communities in those states, including in the Dallas-Fort Worth area, Sacramento and northern Virginia. 311 - Request County Service or Information, Business and Environmental Resource Center (BERC), Service Directory - List of County Services, Certificates: Marriage, Birth, Official Records, Forms: Building Permits, Property Reassessment, Voter Registration, Business Environmental Resource Center (BERC), Local and Small Business Procurement Workshops Calendar, Economic Development, Community Planning & Agriculture , Agricultural Commissioner & Weights/Measures, Environmental Management - Health & Compliance, Green & Technology - Environment and Sustainability, Sacramento County Primary Care Center (PCC), Sacramento Employment and Training Agency (SETA), COVID-19 Business Recovery Grant Programs, Economic Development, Community Planning, Agriculture, Business Resources & New Business Assistance. Commentdocument.getElementById("comment").setAttribute( "id", "a2180205a857fd58abd83b6db9a850c2" );document.getElementById("g6ee6f3f56").setAttribute( "id", "comment" ); Save my name, email, and website in this browser for the next time I comment. / CBS News. Usama Khalil, founder and president of Refugees Enrichment and Development Association, said IRC helped resettle 800 individual refugees in Sacramento County during the month of October alone. Aalemkhiel says he hires a lot of older refugees to work as cashiers, cooks and butchers. JFS of Greater Harrisburg has a long history in refugee resettlement dating back to the mid-1970s. . Local nonprofits have made a huge difference since the recent fall of Kabul. Five of the 10 states with the highest number of Afghan arrivals have Republican governors, including Arizona's Doug Ducey and Maryland's Larry Hogan, both of whom have publicly supported the resettlement effort. We started looking for individual families by calling Afghani stores and mosques in Sacramento. This cookie is used to track how many times users see a particular advert which helps in measuring the success of the campaign and calculate the revenue generated by the campaign. Whether it be supermarkets that are owned by their people or places of worship.. The cookies is used to store the user consent for the cookies in the category "Necessary". Were primarily resettling people who already have relatives here. I want to help them. Elk Grove Unified, a district of 63,000 students in south Sacramento County, has about 2,000 student refugees from Afghanistan, said Lisa Levasseur, a program specialist in the district's. From 2010 to 2014, he helped the advisory staff for the U.S. Marines, mostly working with doctors, moving around the country and going wherever the greatest need popped up. This cookie is set by bidr.io for advertisement purposes. The San Juan Unified School District has 1,400 students from Afghanistan, compared to 200 in 2007. Eight states received fewer than 100 evacuees from Afghanistan, including Alabama, Louisiana, Delaware and North Dakota. The newcomers face hardships with language acquisition, finding jobs, starting school, navigating the cultural differenceswhich are often stark and confusingand a historic housing crunch. How to volunteer: https://www.openingdoorsinc.org/volunteer, Where to donate: https://www.openingdoorsinc.org/donate. Contact Information Refugee Health Clinic. //]]> The first family had been sleeping on the floor of their unfurnished two-bedroom apartment for several weeks. I trained them and now they own businesses throughout the country. The three states have robust refugee resettlement infrastructures, as well as large Afghan American communities. We could never afford counseling otherwise. Returning from a short trip to Lake Tahoe in December 2014, Aalemkhiel stopped in Sacramento looking for halal food. Afghans who were able to evacuate are now being resettled throughout the United States. ICGS / Sacramento Faith TV The Interfaith Council of Greater Sacramento serves greater Sacramento by recognizing that the entire faith community can work together to foster greater understanding and respect among people of different faiths. I asked the DMV for an interpreter. There were approximately 9,700 Afghans residing in Sacramento County alone, more than any other county in the nation. . We were going through a very difficult time and MAS SSF helped us get through it by giving us the psychological and emotional support that we needed. The Aziz family got out of Afghanistan on Sept. 30, flying to the United Arab Emirates first, and then back to Sacramento. For the past decades, thousands of Afghan refugees have made the Sacramento region home after being granted special immigration visas. This cookie is passed to Hubspot on form submission and used when deduplicating contacts. The data collected include number of visits, average time spent on the website, and the what pages have been loaded. On August 29, 2021, President Biden directed the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) to lead and coordinate ongoing efforts across the federal government to support vulnerable Afghans, including those who worked alongside us in Afghanistan for the past two decades, as they safely resettle in the United States. Stay Connected: https://worldrelief.org/sacramento/. One of his last jobs in Afghanistan was working for the National Democratic Institute in Kabul. That number may go up as refugees flee amid the . | Report a Problem Used by Google DoubleClick and stores information about how the user uses the website and any other advertisement before visiting the website. MAS-SSF staff are unsung heroes, they work tirelessly to tackle some of the most difficult issues facing our community. But the government collapsed on Aug. 15, and we were trapped.. This cookie is set by the provider Eqads. There were several times this past summer when Rameen Aziz thought his life might be over. As our office [] They said they did not like our Western clothing, and to wear traditional Afghan clothing the next time, Aziz says. In August, the Afghanistan government collapsed at an unpredictably fast rate two decades after the United States invaded in response to the 9/11 terrorist attacks. Based in Washington, he covers immigration policy and politics. They brought their families to celebrate, and it became a space to share grief and concern, but also many families expressed how grateful they were to be able to gather and that their children had a space to play and not hear the news that is on every TV/phone/radio.