In December 2021, the Adirondack Welcome Circle formed to prepare a home for Afghan refugees. Many of you donated to this effort, and our group worked hard to find resources that the family would need as well as to help rehabilitate an apartment for them. We were thrilled by the community support for this effort.
Sponsor Circles is the organization responsible for resettling the Afghan refugees who were evacuated from Afghanistan last August. Afghan families are given the option of where they wanted to resettle. Most choose areas where there are already other Afghan refugees, and where services such as mosques, halal grocery stores, and people speaking their native language have already settled. Sadly, after months of waiting, our community has not been chosen.
In March the war in Ukraine resulted in a flood of refugees escaping the fighting. As of now, about 8 million of them are displaced outside Ukraine. President Biden offered to resettle 100,000 refugees in the US through Sponsor Circles, and we were just informed that a Ukrainian family will be sent to resettle here with us. We are excited to welcome them here, and we know our community will help to make them feel welcome as well. The support required for Ukrainians is somewhat different than that for Afghans. For instance, we are required to be prepared to support them for up to 2 years if they choose to stay that long and still need financial support.
For those of you who donated to the Adirondack Welcome Circle because you felt you wanted to support Afghan refugees, we fully understand your disappointment. Any of you who made a monetary donation would prefer a refund so that you can re-donate the funds to support Afghans in some other way, please contact us at [email protected] and we will arrange that. Otherwise, know that all donations will be put to very good use to support this family, who are escaping from such difficult circumstances.
We would like to thank everyone who has been involved in this effort. So many of you donated money, offered household items, purchased needed supplies from our Target registry, and an amazing number of people showed up at the apartment and scraped, painted, fixed things, cleaned and just helped. All this reinforces why Glens Falls and the surrounding communities are called Hometown USA! No matter what happens in the future for this family, their welcome here and the warmth of this community will be a loving support for them as they face an uncertain future for their native country.
Thank you again for being the loving community that you are and for welcoming the stranger—and making them a friend.
-Kathleen Braico
Adirondack_ Welcome Circle is currently sponsoring a Ukrainian family in the Glens Falls area (see below). As of right now, our group is not in a position to sponsor or support other refugees. If you are looking for sponsorship as a refugee, we wish you the best of luck and we suggest you contact one of the following groups:
Dear Glens Falls friends and neighbors,
Please, accept our deepest thanks for all fruitful cooperation. We are so happy to be part of your society!
We wish all volunteers and their families good health, well-being and peace and harmony in your homes. May success accompany you in all your affairs, and faith in a better future adds strength and inspires great prospects.
God bless you for your faith and reaching out to others!
Especially yours,
Liudmyla, Nastya, Liza Kazberuk