Refugee agencies need sponsors

Downturn in aid hurting services

Intelligencer Journal

Jun 11, 2009 00:27 EST

By LINDA ESPENSHADE, Staff Writer

Two prominent agencies that resettle refugees in Lancaster are struggling to find sponsors even as they deal with a rising number of incoming clients.

Church World Service's Lancaster County chapter expects to resettle 200 refugees this year, 50 more than last year, and Lutheran Refugee Services, which is based here, expects 150, 30 more than last year.

The U.S. State Department contracts with both organizations to resettle refugees. Recently, those resettled have come predominantly from Myanmar, Bhutan and Iraq. Each year, the organizations set a general target for the number they will accept.

This year, the refugees are coming at a time when the recession is sharply limiting the resources of those who want to help them start a new life.

Many churches are already pushed to the limit just helping their own members cope with the downturn, according to Sheila McGeehan, Lancaster director of Church World Services.

Since October, only nine churches have volunteered to sponsor a family through Church World Service, she said, compared to more than 20 last year.

Ideally, sponsors cover an incoming family's expenses and provide support services for the first 90 days, a time period established under the State Department's contracts. The organizations often ask that sponsors commit to an additional month, for a total of four.

Support services can be extensive. In cooperation with a refugee organization, sponsors are asked to help the immigrants find and furnish a home, fill out legal and administrative paperwork and find a job. Sponsors may transport refugees to medical appointments, teach them to drive, help them register for school or English classes and so on.

After three to four months, a family's breadwinners are expected to have jobs and be self-sufficient.

The recession has made that goal much harder to reach, said Barbara Witmer, employment coordinator for Lancaster's Church World Services chapter. Therefore, sponsors sometimes end up supporting a family longer.

For example, a small group from Akron Mennonite Church sponsored a family of five from Iraq. With the church's support, the group paid the family's rent for eight months. Both parents, who can speak English, are now working.

Language skills are a major barrier. Three or four months is simply not enough time for immigrants with no English skills to become self-sufficient, said Mohammed Mohsen, an Iraqi refugee, through a translator. He and his wife and child arrived almost a year ago.

"I agree completely," said Eric Kennel, site director of Lutheran Refugee Services.

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The federal government appropriates just $900 per person to get refugees resettled. The resettling organization spends about half directly on the refugees, while half goes to pay the organization's staff, Kennel and McGeehan said.

The money does not begin to cover expenses, said Kennel, which is why sponsors and donations are so crucial.

Once the organizations contract with the State Department, they are responsible for meeting their assigned refugees' needs whether sponsors are available or not.

Conceivably, the local Church World Service chapter could ask the national office to shift refugees to other areas, but that would only burden other chapters that are facing the same pressures, and would only be done as a last resort, McGeehan said.

Lutheran Refugee Services has imposed an indefinite moratorium on new cases for its new fiscal year, which begins Oct. 1, Kennel said. Until its outlook improves, the organization will not take on new refugees unless they already have relatives living here.

Without sponsors, the staff can only meet families' most basic needs, officials said. It's the volunteer sponsors who give the extra face time, financial support and early assistance that help the families successfully adapt to American life.

"We depend on volunteers and sponsors," Kennel said. "When we don't get that, we have to take a serious look at our capacity, too."

Both organizations are accepting any and all offers of help as they try to piece together a patchwork of support for the refugees. They are reaching beyond churches to community groups, college groups and even networks of friends as potential sponsors.

Churches can partner with another church instead of working alone. Individuals can volunteer just to drive or teach English or do some other specific task.

"We are so desperate," Kennel said. Even if a sponsor can commit to only two months instead of four, the organization will take it.

Donations are needed, said Witmer, as are job openings. "We don't need a sponsor as much if they get a job earlier."

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Dale Long of Rothsville has been helping refugees resettle for many years, first in Philadelphia, now locally. Having the opportunity to "welcome the stranger" is an experience that gives back, he said.

He bought and remodeled a home with extra apartments specifically so refugees could live there.

Kusay and Rukayya Owaid and their children live in the upstairs apartment of his house. A team of people from several churches has supported the Owaids since they arrived from Iraq in November. Long helps out, too.

Though the Owaids, who are professionals and speak English, are frustrated that they cannot find even basic jobs, they are grateful for the support of their sponsors.

 "When I came here, a lot of people, they help me," Kusay said. People didn't know him, yet they helped him, he said.

Long, who attends Crossroads Community Fellowship, said what newcomers need most is "somebody to care for you, somebody who has your interest at heart.

"Just a little bit of caring can really help."

E-mail: lespenshade@lnpnews.com