Reading POWIR (People Organized to Welcome Immigrants and Refugees) is one of a number of non-profit groups helping to welcome and support some of the estimated 900-1,000 Afghans currently being resettled in Massachusetts this fall, under the aegis of resettlement agencies like Catholic Charities. The refugees are people who were evacuated from their Taliban-controlled homeland this past August in
cluding many interpreters and their families who had supported our troops and feared reprisal by the Taliban. On October 18th, 2021 Reading POWIR welcomed a family of three Afghan adults! Because of the speed of the evacuation, our Afghan family came in through the Humanitarian Parole program, not the lengthier Special Immigrant Visa program, which would have made them eligible for public benefits like food stamps. We are lucky that some members of our family can communicate in the English language. We settled them in an apartment in Somerville that was offered by a generous landlord free of charge for six months, and at a greatly reduced rent for four months after that. This is an excellent start, but the family is not likely to be fully self-supporting at the end of that time, and fundraising is underway to generate enough money to see them through another 4-6 months, including a move to another apartment. Our goal is to raise $30,000, and we are about half way there at present. Reading POWIR is an all-volunteer group and every penny collected is used for refugee support. Tax deductible donations to provide food, clothing, and future rental subsidy can be made online by going to the website of the Church of the Good Shepherd (Episcopal) in Reading at https://www.goodshepherdreading.org/. A “Donate” link there allows you to specify “Afghan Refugees.”
Checks payable to “Church of the Good Shepherd” with “Afghan Refugees” on the memo line can be mailed to Reading POWIR, P.O. Box 255, Reading, MA 01867
There is also a GoFundMe page at https://gofund.me/ab2a9361. The family has shelter and basic necessities right now but Reading POWIR also needs:
• A volunteer with time and some medical knowledge to help the family schedule appointments with medical providers and clarify medical directives.
• Volunteers to es**rt family members to medical appointments on occasion
• Volunteers to help the family learn to use public transportation
• Volunteers to assist with English-as-a-second language learning
• Volunteers to provide some socialization and to encourage growth in their English language skills
By August of 2022 we are likely to need a 2 bedroom apartment costing $1600-$2,000/month in Somerille or a nearby community with access to public transit. Reading POWIR is an inter-denominational group of individuals and representatives from area churches who came together under the supervision of Catholic Charities (a certified non-profit resettlement agency) in 2017 to welcome a group of Ethiopian refugees, who now live independently in various parts of the country. This new need is a compelling one and we welcome aid and contributions from all interested people. To learn more please reach out in one of these ways:
Email: [email protected]
Facebook: www.facebook.com/RefugeesReadingMA/
Website: readingpowr.weebly.com
Reading POWIR meets every other Thursday via Zoom. Please contact [email protected] to be added to our invitational email list. New volunteers are always welcome to join in!
