Urgent Help Needed for Afghan Refugee Family. They Have No Resettlement Agency/No Financial Support

Emily Hansen has been a dedicated supporter of SCM Medical Missions since 2016. She has assisted numerous Syrian refugee families as they settled into new lives in the Seattle and Spokane areas. In late 2021, her focus shifted to Afghan refugees, and through her volunteer work at SCM’s church store, she has supported over 4,000 newly arrived Afghans. Emily has personally helped hundreds of families obtain essential household and baby items, and she considers many of these individuals her friends.

Most of the families she has worked with have arrived under the care of resettlement agencies, giving them access to critical resources such as temporary financial assistance, case management, food support, medical care, and work authorizations. While the transition becomes more difficult after the 90-day resettlement support period ends, families with refugee status are generally able to work toward self-sufficiency.

Emily is now seeking urgent assistance for one of the most vulnerable Afghan families she has encountered. The family includes two parents and their three young children—a 7-year-old daughter, a 4-year-old son, and an 11-month-old baby boy. The father was formerly employed as a journalist by an American company in Kabul. Due to increasing pressure and danger, the employer helped the family flee Afghanistan. After spending time in Pakistan, they arrived in Seattle in March.

Unlike most Afghan refugee families Emily has assisted, this family arrived without the backing of a resettlement agency or any financial support. The father currently cannot work; although his former employer obtained a U.S. work permit for him, it is limited to employment with that same company, which has no available positions—remote or local—in Seattle. Additionally, the permit is temporary and will expire in six months, at which point the family would be forced to leave the U.S.

Fortunately, an American colleague of the father has provided the family with a below-market rental home in Seattle’s Ravenna neighborhood. However, they have no means to pay rent and are entirely dependent on the generosity of others to survive.

The family’s only long-term hope is to gain asylum. A petition has already been submitted by the former employer, but a favorable decision could take months. In the meantime, Emily is asking for support on their behalf. Assistance could include rent contributions (landlord contact information available upon request), grocery store gift cards (QFC or Safeway), and diapers (currently size 4, with delivery information available for Amazon, Target, or other retailers). An Amazon list is coming soon and will be posted when it is available.

For those in the Seattle area, especially near Ravenna, the father is willing and eager to perform yard work or other casual labor. He is intelligent, hardworking, fluent in English, and deeply motivated to provide for his young family and build a secure life in the United States.

Please contact us if you are able to help this family with needed supplies, or donate to their fund by clicking button below.