SERVE NEAR AND FAR

Resettling families can mean meeting the family at O’Hare and bringing them home to their apartment, acquiring furniture for and setting up their apartment fully prior to their arrival, visiting them weekly for their first six months here in the US, helping them navigate our complex world, and learning English. Some specific tasks include taking them to grocery stores that have foods they are familiar with and teaching them how things work —weighing produce, the cost of meat, checking out at the register, etc. Other tasks can include teaching our refugee friends how to drive or taking them to a doctor’s appointment. We are their friends and often the closest thing they have to family here and we do whatever we can to help them assimilate to our culture, while respecting their customs and religion. It is an extremely rewarding process to be involved in.  

About Refugee One

Refugee One is an organization that creates opportunity for refugees fleeing war, terror, and persecution to build new lives of safety, dignity, and self-reliance. Since 1982, RefugeeOne has helped more than 15,000 refugees build new lives in Chicago. Alongside sponsors and volunteers, it greets refugees at the airport, supports refugee children in school, assists with integration into American culture, helps adults learn English and employable skills, and connects them to their first jobs.

Contact: Kim Nichol at kbnichol@sbcglobal.net