The Basilica’s Immigrant Support Ministry is pleased to welcome two new Afghan families into our Twin Cities community!
Both families arrived on Special Immigrant Visas in late August, a status they were granted after previously assisting U.S. troops in Afghanistan. Two groups of Basilica volunteers are welcoming and walking with these families as members of Support Circle Teams, which work in a partnership with Community Sponsorship Hub to help refugee families acclimate to new lives in the United States.
READ MORE: What does it mean to join a Sponsor Circle Team?
The first family lives in a Minneapolis duplex, a few blocks from the school their four oldest children now attend. A 9-month-old is also at home, just starting to crawl. Their father was previously a judge and lawyer in Kabul. The next two most important priorities the Sponsor Circle team is helping the family with are finding the father a job and getting the mother settled into ESL classes. The family seems to be adjusting well, and in addition to starting school, job hunting, and beginning English classes, has also connected with the Basilica Support Circle Team during outings to a park and the Walker Sculpture Garden.
The second family has settled into Richfield. Their 6-year-old recently started first grade and is riding a school bus for the first time; a 2-year-old sibling is also at home. Their Basilica Sponsor Circle Team is helping the father, who worked in energy and banking in Afghanistan, find a job. The family and Sponsor Circle Team has accomplished much since the family arrived, and were even able to get in a fun trip to the Como Zoo.
The Basilica Immigrant Support Ministry hopes to welcome more Afghan families – but we need your help to do it! This ministry is possible due to the dedication of Sponsor Circle volunteers, who work in small teams as they get to know individual families, help identify their needs, then provide support for one year.
READ MORE: FAQs: Joining Sponsor Circle or Accompaniment Teams
Want to learn more? Read about what Sponsor Circle Teams do here, or email Glen Boerboom, ISM committee chair, or Janice Andersen, the Basilica’s director of Christian Life, for more information.
Get to know all the families the Immigrant Support Ministry has worked with over the years by exploring this map:
Writers:
Dorene W. is a member of the Immigrant Support Ministry and coordinator of the Sponsor Circle teams that work with refugees.
Amanda K., communications volunteer with the Immigrant Support Ministry. Amanda and her family have been Basilica members since 2011, and she has been involved with several ministries in that time.
Learn more about how you can help at mary.org/refugee-immigration-ministry/