An image from the Huntington Congregational Church website.
SHELTON — The Valley Refugee Resettlement Project, established in May by the Huntington Congregational Church (United Church of Christ), submitted an application to receive a refugee family to IRIS — Integrated Refugee & Immigrant Services of New Haven. Approval is expected shortly, at which time a newly arrived and fully-vetted refugee family will be assigned to the Shelton-based Project.
The project has raised $12,000, the minimum level required to qualify to apply to be a community co-sponsor.
Huntington pastor, Rev. Lucille Fritz said, “We’ve an amazing group of volunteers who are eager to start. However, we still need to raise additional funds. Therefore, we created a GoFundMe account and hope the community will support it. The account address is: https://gofund.me/f503d48b.
Assignment of a family can happen at any time during the weeks following approval, said co-chair Rich Knoll. The Project has organized volunteers to handle all aspects of the resettlement, such as identifying temporary housing while an apartment is located, leased and fitted up with furniture and household goods that have been collected and stored.
Education team volunteers will assist the children to enroll in Shelton Public Schools and adults into Valley Adult Education Center ESL classes, while family finance team volunteers will help the family to create a budget, shop, and acquire basic essentials. Health, cultural orientation and transportation teams have equally important roles. The employment team has reached out to the Chamber of Commerce and local employers about entry level opportunities, because adult family members, after a short period of culturalization, will be expected to gain employment.
The timing of the approval from IRIS will depend on their evaluation of the Project’s readiness, which includes the availability of suitable rentals, the sufficiency of financial resources, and the availability of interpreters to help with communication. Gordon Harris, housing team leader, feels that locating and leasing a two or three-bedroom apartment in central Shelton accessible to public transportation is key to success. He is interested in speaking with landlords who would be willing to consider coordinating a lease with the Project. A federal stipend and private funds will ensure prompt rent payment. [Gordon can be reached at 203 – 605-5233.]
The Project is also recruiting interpreters. Pashto, Farsi/Dari and Arabic/Turkish speaking residents in the area, who are willing to volunteer time, can contact Rich Knoll at: [email protected].
If local residents or businesses are interested in supporting the effort in other ways, they can use to the Church website: Valley Refugee Resettlement Project – Huntington Congregational Church (huntingtonucc.org). The “Volunteers Needed” feature allows one Click into an inquiry dialogue that will record the offer of time, goods or services. A Project volunteer will follow up.
