This latest update on our St. Paul’s collaboration with RefugeeNet to assist with resettlement of new refugees contains both good and bad news. First, a big thank you to the crew of St. Paul’s folks and friends who worked tirelessly on Saturday morning to pick up donated furniture that couldn’t wait. Also on the good news front, the 14th refugee, a 30 year old Sudanese man, arrived last week from a camp in Uganda and has joined family members who came a few weeks ago. There are currently 4 family units of various sizes (14 newly resettled individuals in all, ranging in age from infancy to 50) representing several tribal groups from Sudan and the Democratic Republic of Congo (by way of Uganda, Tanzania, and Malawi) who are acclimating to their new lives in San Diego.
The bad news is that the two large extended families on RefugeeNet’s list that we’ve been expecting—one Kurdish and the other Sudanese—have not yet been ticketed to travel and remain in Turkey and Kenya, respectively. Although cleared over 7 weeks ago by the U.S. Dept. of State, the cause of the delay is not known, but now that the new administration has issued an executive order halting the admission of refugees to the U.S. for at least 4-months, it is unlikely they’ll arrive before the ban goes into effect; thus their fate is in limbo. Please keep these families in your prayers.
We are pausing donations of furniture and household items for now, as storage space is very limited. We are seeking a temporary storage site for some very nice donated furniture awaiting the arrival of the next family; please let us know if you can possibly help with this or have a lead on suitable space. An exception to this donation moratorium is smart TVs, which would be much appreciated and helpful as the new arrivals develop their English skills. Please let us know if you have a still functional TV or laptop you’d like to donate.
Also, if you’re interested in providing person-to-person support, there is a need for help with transportation to appointments, grocery shopping, bus/public transit training/practice, cell phone orientation, English language conversation and practice, etc. Please let us know if you’d like to learn more about volunteering to help with this important aspect of resettlement support.
For FAQs, a list of needed items, and other ways to help, click here.
Please contact Joan Reese (jmreese@gmail.com) to find out more and sign up to receive progress updates.
Updated January 23, 2025
