Refugee Family Moving On

Refugee Resettlement Ministry Update August 15, 2008

Wow, hard to believe that the summer is coming to an end. Even harder to believe that it has been almost 9 months since the Abtans joined our church family.  

So what has been happening in the Abtan household lately? Nafie is still enjoying his job at St. Mary's Hospital in the Central Sterile Processing Department. In his spare time, he tends to his vegetable garden (which the ground hogs have found to be quite delicious). Suhair continues to chase Mutaz full time, meets with Literacy Volunteers every Wednesday and volunteers at the Mosque in Danbury on Sundays.  

The Abtans have also enjoyed several outings with friends. Some of them include: NYC including Central Park Zoo with Walt Fisher, the Buccaneers BBQ/pool party at the home of Jeanine Hanewicz and Lou Memoli, blueberry picking with Liz DeLambert and Patty Buchan, Town Park Beach with Jennifer Wurst, and Lake Lillinonah with Laura Hancock. Yes, the summer has gone quickly but they were fortunate to have had special memories with many
friends.  

Since the family arrived they have been told they could stay in the cottage for 9 months. This timeframe was recommended by IRIS as well as by leaders of CCB's first Refugee Ministry with Annie and Lloyd. Therefore, the apartment search has been underway with apartments seen in the greater Danbury and Naugatuck areas. Special thanks to Patty Buchan, Kathy Wandelmaier, Robin Murphy, Linda De Lucia and Tom Eaker for their tireless efforts in helping the Abtans with the apartment search.

So we are in the final stage of this ministry. Two years ago this family was fleeing for its life. They had left Iraq under threat of death. For many months, as refugees, they moved from place to place in Jordan seeking safety. Then our church welcomed them to Brookfield. It's exciting to know that we have, once again, supported and helped a family integrate into our community. It is this community that the Abtans have grown to love - they want to stay where they are most familiar and have their friends close by, but they also understand that it is time to move on.

As you can imagine, moving is stressful....please keep the Abtan family in your prayers.

Finally, hold the date!  The congregation is invited to an in-between session on Sunday, September 14 at 9:30 a.m. in Fellowship Hall. During this time, Chris George will do a short program around refugees and there will be an opportunity to ask the Abtan's and committee members questions about their resettlement experience.

Refugee Resettlement Update April 15, 2008

It has been almost 6 months since we received the blessings of the Abtans arrival. The goal of the
Refugee Resettle ministry was to get the Abtans to become self-sufficient within their first 6 months.
This goal has been set by the sponsorship organization Intergrated Refugee and Immigrant Services,
IRIS. The Abtans also signed an agreement with the government (an early self-sufficiency grant
program) stating that they would take the appropriate measures to reach this goal and which they
received a stipend to help assist in the successful accomplishment of this goal.

Self- sufficiency means that they are financially able to provide for their family and they know and
understand how to arrange and get to/from their daily activities that includes work, food shopping,
banking, ESL classes, literacy volunteers, laundry, babysitting etc..

The biggest step towards this is obviously being able to provide their own transportation. Nafie did
receive his driver’s license but he needed a job in order to afford a car. He got a job mid-March - so
now it was time to go car shopping. And just when we were about to do that, we received a donation of
a car from the parents of Monica McIlnerny. As of this Friday, April 25, the Abtans now own their first
car here in the US – a 1998 Oldsmobile.

So let’s review each committee’s goals and progress:

Clothing/household furnishings – goal: determine refugees sizes and clothing needs, circulate a
“needs list” for clothing and household goods, arrange to recycle unwanted donated items. Goal
accomplished by mid-December.

Acculturation/hospitality – goal: research refugee’s areas of interest and help to fulfill those needs,
research churches of refugee affiliation, help the refugee in becoming oriented in the community, show
how to shop, use public transportation, use emergency telephone numbers, understand local customs
and laws. Goal accomplished by December.

Health – goal: apply for Medicaid, food stamps, Women/Infant/Child program for Mutaz, schedule
and accompany refugees for health screening, arrange to have medical and dental needs of family met.
Goal accomplished by January

Education – goal: arrange ESL classes through adult education or church volunteers, tutor the refugee
in the English language. Goal accomplished by January – ESL classes continue through Mid-May then
again in September. Help refugee be able to take driver’s license test. Goal accomplished by March 1.
The committee felt that Nafie needed to improve his computer skills. We were fortunate to have a
volunteer from the Senior Center, Jack Scully, donate his time to work with Nafie one-on-one with
teaching him about the basics of Microsoft Office (a 6 week course). Jack started working with Nafie
on April 4, they meet every Friday from 10:00 a.m. – 12:00 noon until May 16th. Suhair is also
interested in learning the computer so Nafie shares with her what Jack has taught him.

Employment - goal: research employment opportunities prior to refugees’ arrival, help refugee find a
job, enroll refugee in training programs or on-the-job training. Goal accomplished by March 19th.

Nafie is working at Stew Leonards in the meat department. However, given his medical background,
several committee members continue to help Nafie apply for entry level healthcare jobs.

Transportation – goal: drive the refugee to doctor appointments., ESL classes, literacy volunteers, food
shopping, laundromat, place of employment. Goal accomplished by May 13. During the 6 months, there
wasn’t any transportation request that hasn’t been filled.

Finance – goal: teach refugees about budgeting - debit vs. credit, how to write a check and manage their own bank accounts, develop a budget plan that includes re-paying the travel loan extended to provide transportation to this country. Goal accomplished by April. Provide ongoing oversight of church
expenditures. Robin Murphy, finance chair, has developed a financial plan for the Abtans. They need to
pay 100% of the utility bills that will get paid directly to the providers. They will also start paying “rent”
beginning – which will be saved for 1st/last months rent + security deposit towards their future home.

Nafie is working at Stew Leonards in the meat department but given how costly it is to live in this area, it will be difficult for the Abtans to meet the financial objectives without a second job. Given his medical
background, we are hoping for a second job within a healthcare setting.

Other - On April 18th, Nafie and Suhair were reunited with friends that they had met while staying in a refugee facility in Jordan. The Alkabasis family (mother, father and 3 children ages 7, 5 and 1) are working through the International Institute in Bridgeport, for their resettlement. They are currently residing in a lovely 2 bedroom condo in Danbury.

Suhair is volunteering at the Mosque in Danbury. She teaches Arabic to children every Sunday from
10:00 a.m. – 1:00 p.m. She is very excited about this opportunity.

Wow, looking at all that has been accomplished over the past 6 months it’s pretty amazing that we were able to do so much in such a short period of time. Kudos to all the committee members ….these goals could not have been accomplished without your generosity and care that you have given to the Abtan family!