LYNN ― The New American Association of Massachusetts (NAAM) is asking the North Shore community for assistance in paying for housing for Afghan evacuees who were recently resettled to the area.
“These Afghan allies risked their lives to support the American campaign in Afghanistan, and NAAM stands ready to support them in their adjustment to life on the North Shore,” said NAAM Executive Director Natasha Soolkin. “The biggest challenge is to find housing in this very tight housing market. We are also collecting home goods, kitchen equipment and electronic devices.”
About 500 Afghan evacuees have come to Massachusetts since September/October 2021, said Soolkin. About 40 of them were resettled to the North Shore.
NAAM is a community-based organization assisting newly-arrived refugees and immigrants with integration into American society, educates them about local culture, promotes civic participation and engagement, builds bridges with the larger community, while also rendering social services and promoting economic stability.
Most Afghan arrivals are families, Soolkin said, but there are a few single individuals as well. Many of them left behind some members of their families, children or spouses, and are hoping to reunite with their loved ones in the near future.
“They are still foggy from their experiences,” said Soolkin. “It was so much rapid trauma. I can see it in their eyes.”
Afghan evacuees come with various legal statuses. Those who used to help the U.S. military, usually arrive on special immigrant visas and are eligible for the same resettlement assistance, entitlement programs, and other benefits as refugees admitted under the U.S. Refugee Admissions Program (USRAP) for up to eight months after being admitted to the United States.
Some come on humanitarian parole, which allows individuals, who may be inadmissible or otherwise ineligible for admission into the United States, to be paroled into the United States for a temporary period, usually no longer than a year. The U.S. government provided Afghan people on humanitarian parole with all benefits of refugees, Soolkin said, which makes them eligible for cash assistance and services.
There are three major resettlement organizations that NAAM works with: International Institute of New England, Refugee & Immigrant Assistance Center, and Catholic Charities of Boston. They bring newcomers to designated resettlement communities, rent them housing, furnish it, connect evacuees with the Social Security Administration and the Department of Transitional Assistance. Then organizations like NAAM step in and provide them with immigration assistance and case management, ESL classes, youth programs, job training and employment services and more.
Refugees receive benefits for up to eight month which are about $500 per individual per month, Soolkin said.
“The cost of living in Massachusetts cannot be covered by these amounts and the most critical cost is housing,” said Soolkin, who noted that a small one-bedroom apartment in Lynn that can house three people costs about $1600 and more.
Although eager to start working, most of the evacuees still don’t have approved employment authorization. But while they are waiting, they need to pay rent, Soolkin said.
She promised that the money raised for Afghan evacuees will go directly to paying for housing and NAAM pledges to be accountable for every penny of donations.
Recent Afghan evacuees that Soolkin works with come from different social and ethnic groups and backgrounds. For example, Soolkin described one Afghan man in his early 30s as a highly educated, high-functioning, sharp individual who used to be some kind of adviser to the U.S. Army. He went through a lot of dramatic events and didn’t expect to be stuck without a job, Soolkin said.
Other families come from rural areas. They were helping the American military in different ways, for example by renting housing. They don’t speak any English but are still focused on starting to work and providing for their families.
“I see they are ready to work, but many people do not see that English is a barrier,” said Soolkin.
NAAM provides these newcomers with devices like Chromebooks to help them start learning English; however, many don’t have internet service at home. Before the COVID-19 pandemic, NAAM provided in-person classes at its office on Lynnway. Soolkin said that they are thinking of setting up a projector and, with all the precautions, inviting people to attend classes in their classrooms while an English instructor is working remotely.
“Our job is to make them comfortable, warm them a little bit and build trust,” said Soolkin. “But the office is not a home anymore.”
Before the pandemic, refugees from various countries found friends and activities to do together at NAAM.
Sayed Ali A. from Kandahar, Afghanistan, who came to Massachusetts in 2016, learned about NAAM from his Iraqi roommate. Sayed, 36, used to work for various U.S. and international NGOs and agencies as a translator, site manager and supervisor for six years, before he started to receive threats and it became dangerous for him to stay in Afghanistan.
He lived in Pakistan for a year and a half before he was granted refugee status in the U.S.
“I really appreciate their help,” said Sayed about NAAM. “They helped me anytime I needed anything. For any problem, they never told me ‘no’.”
Since he settled in Lynn and then moved to Malden, Sayed has worked for Hunter Protective Services as a security guard and at a hotel in Cambridge. Now, he has received his HVAC license and is preparing to become an HVAC technician.
However, his wife and five children are still hiding in Afghanistan.
“The situation right now in Afghanistan is the worst,” said Sayed. “I am scared about my family.”
Two weeks ago, Sayed translated at NAAM for two new arrivals. He said that they were very confused because they are not familiar with the culture yet. He told them not to worry, although the first year will be a little hard.
“It is a free country. You can do what you want, except the bad stuff. Freedom. The more you work hard, the more you succeed.”
NAAM can be reached at (781) 593-0100, ext, 718 or [email protected]
Ways to make a donation:
- To make a donation to NAAM via PayPal please go to www.naamass.org and click on the ‘DONATE TODAY’ button in the upper-right corner of the main page. In the note section please indicate that your donation should be directed to help Afghani evacuees.
- If you prefer to pay by a check or a money order, please make it payable to NAAM and mail it to the New American Association of MA, 330 Lynnway, Suite 302, Lynn, MA 01901, attn. Natasha Soolkin. In the memo section, please indicate that your donation should be directed to help Afghani evacuees.
