Day 25 Within the family structure of our current refugee resettlement case there is a 20 year-old daughter. Two weeks ago we learned that she was married in the refugee camp. Her husband, also a refugee, was resettled as part of a different case. His family was settled in Nebraska. His brother and sister remained […]
Day 24 Yesterday I brought up “the system.” Sometimes things go suspiciously well. Sometimes things are completely crazy. Try on today’s experience with the local electric and gas utility, We Energies. One of our co-chairs placed a call to We Energies this morning to get the electric service switched into the name of the refugee […]
Day 23 Wow, there was a lot happening today… First thing this morning I got a call from one of our co-chairs. She had gotten a call saying that a wash machine repair person would be at the house at 8:30 this morning, wondering if she could meet him there. She agreed. She was wondering […]
Day 22 All seems well at the family’s house today. One of our team co-chairs met a member from our church congregation at the house. This church member has really stepped up to fill in the gaps with donated items. And, she’s gone above and beyond as well. She brought new toys, books, a couple […]
Day 21 While unpacking linens that were donated for the family, some napkins were uncovered in the box. The women in the family were very excited, certainly more excited than we would expect, to see the decorative cloth dinner napkins. Has it been so long since they’ve had a fine napkin to set on their lap or […]
Day 20 One of our co-chairs and her husband went to the family’s house twice today. First she returned some bedding that she had taken home to wash, and she picked up more blankets to launder later. Yesterday we believed that the wash machine in the house did not work. Today the consensus is that […]
Day 19 I really enjoy move-in day. Actually this is one of my favorite parts of the entire refugee resettlement process. Picking up at the airport is my other favorite time. To me these are the big transitional moments. So, move-in day… We arrived at the temporary housing (their relative’s apartment) at about 9:20 this morning. […]
Day 18 The big news today is that we were finally able to get an intake appointment for food and medical assistance! This will happen next week in a 4 hour-long meeting. For an average American family going through this process it is expected to be a 2.5 hour meeting. Throw in an interpreter and […]
Day 17 Yesterday provided the first notice from the Social Security Administration. We received notice that they were processing the applications for the youngest two children. Isn’t that great? Those that need it least are being processed! Well, with that prelude, we are nearly shocked into unconsciousness today. The social security card, yeah the actual […]
Day 16 This is the first chance we’ve had to get the resettlement team back together since the family arrived just over two weeks ago. Even so, we had only a total of 6 people available for the meeting. We’d usually hope for more, but things are moving forward pretty good, so a small core […]
