Joyce’s Story: A Fighter’s Heart

Anne, LHI Refugee Resettlement Manager, with Joyce and two of her children.

In 2013, Joyce and her family were living in Juba, South Sudan, when simmering political instability and ethnic tensions boiled over into violent civil war. Rebel groups began battling government forces for control across the country. Innocent civilians were caught in the crossfire, targeted for arbitrary reasons. Business owners, teachers, journalists, and aid workers became marked individuals. Others were singled out based on their ethnicity, political affiliation, or social status. Thousands of people were massacred. Sexual violence against girls and women was rampant and children were forcefully recruited by militias.

Juba was very tribal. If they saw someone who went to school or studied, like my husband, it could cause trouble. There were a lot of fights that broke out and it was very hard for us.

Joyce found herself embroiled in a nightmare when her husband, targeted for his perceived status as an educated businessman, was kidnapped by militias. Fearing for their lives, Joyce and her children boarded UNHCR trucks full of other terrified women and girls. The trucks carried them for hours until they crossed the border into Uganda.

A neighborhood in Kampala.

But her challenges were far from over. Everyday life in the overcrowded and impoverished urban refugee settlements in Kampala was extremely difficult. The hospitals didn’t have mattresses, sheets, or lights. Food and clean water were scarce, and they often faced dangerous outbreaks of cholera.

We had to be self-reliant, but most of the refugees couldn’t afford to. The other girls and I moved from place to place. We washed clothes for people, did some laundry for them, just to earn a living.

As a mother, Joyce faced even greater dangers. One of the girls she came with on the trucks was kidnapped and smuggled back to South Sudan where she was beaten to death. The girls’ family, blaming Joyce for their daughter’s death, demanded she give up her first-born daughter as compensation. Others in the community also began pressuring her to marry off her daughter.

In South Sudan, when you have female children, they are seen as wealth. They can be married off at any time. They have no rights to go to school. I didn’t go to school, and was also married at an early age. I didn’t want my daughter to be taken.

Despite the violence at her doorstep, Joyce was a fearless community leader, speaking out against gender-based violence, child marriage, and domestic abuse. She urged women to stand together and fight for their daughters’ right to an education. Her work even caught the attention of the UNHCR in Kampala, who recognized her ability to bring women together.

I just wanted a free space for every child, for every girl, to go to school. Not to be forced into marriage. The child has a right to decide, to be a better person.

Jaron, LHI’s COO, with a refugee family in Kampala.

Joyce’s brave activism stood up to the power of community elders who exploited young girls for their own personal wealth and gain, but it didn’t come without a personal cost. She was accused of spoiling her children, and going against tradition.

I became an enemy to the community. People started asking, “Where does Joyce live? What is Joyce doing?” I was targeted, and in 2023, I was attacked in Kampala. I was beaten until I bled, and was unconscious for 3 days in the hospital.

The UNHCR began to recognize that the situation had become far too dangerous for Joyce to stay in the camp. For Joyce and her children to have any chance at survival, they would have to move elsewhere.

In January 2024, a decade after fleeing South Sudan, Joyce and her children resettled in America through the US Refugee Admissions Program (USRAP). Though finally safe, she was completely alone. With no connections in the area, she relied on a caseworker assigned to her family to adjust to daily life in the US. But their time was limited, and Joyce knew she would need more support to rebuild her life.

I landed in Syracuse, New York, and I felt lost in an unknown land. I didn’t know anyone. I didn’t know how to get to the market or the hospital. The caseworker couldn’t just drive me all around. My children had no one to talk to.

But Joyce had a close friend living in Utah named Peninah who she grew up with and considered a sister. She knew that being near Peninah would make her new life much easier, so she contacted the US Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) for help.

I had been traumatized and beaten. I didn’t know whether my husband was alive or not. I didn’t know how to start life. But when I came to Utah, I felt like I was at home. I could smile because I had my sister. She could drive me around, and she could help if I had any issues. My children could talk to her children at school, and they could use the bus together.

Joyce’s new apartment was completely unfurnished, and her family had been sleeping on the floor.

Shortly after arriving in Utah, Joyce met Anne, LHI Refugee Resettlement Manager. At the time, Joyce’s new apartment was empty—they had no mattresses to sleep on or winter clothes to wear. Anne and LHI’s volunteer do-gooders in Utah made sure to give Joyce and her children a proper, warm welcome. They delivered furniture and clothing from the LHI Humanitarian Aid Warehouse directly to her door, set everything up, and ensured that Joyce’s family had all the supplies they needed.

When we first came to Utah, we were sleeping in the cold. I didn’t have any clothes. But Anne came into my life like a guardian angel. She brought us everything. She didn’t only give me clothes and mattresses, she also encouraged me. She made me smile. I felt so motivated.

With Peninah and organizations like LHI at their side, Joyce and her family are thriving in Utah. Joyce is taking classes to earn her GED and her children are enrolled in school. They’re finally able to access the education she spent so many years fighting for.

I’m just happy that my children are in school, where their teachers smile at them. And education has no age limit. I will go to school until I finish because I still have a fighter’s heart.

I still want to support the young girls. I’m still fighting for them not to be married off, for them to have the right to go to school. That’s why I’m studying hard in the US. I’m taking any opportunity to support the girls of the future and the girls back home. This is my goal now.

Joyce’s brave advocacy for the rights of girls and women came at a huge cost, and it was critical that her family be resettled outside of Uganda. However, for many other women around the world, safety is now further out of reach. With the suspension of the USRAP, thousands of vulnerable women who have endured brutal displacement and violence are now even more isolated, trapped in dangerous conditions. US budget cuts have also decimated programs that help newly arrived families like Joyce’s.

But we’re making up for what has been lost. In Utah, we’ve restored maternal healthcare for pregnant moms and wellness checks for families. Abroad, we’re helping refugee women build paths forward and achieve self-sufficiency through mental healthcare, professional development, and entrepreneurship.

Now more than ever, we are committed to helping refugees, at home and abroad.

FAQ: What’s Happening to Refugees, at Home and Abroad?

Unprecedented changes in US policies are deeply affecting humanitarian organizations and the refugees they support. It can be hard to keep track of how budget cuts have impacted the humanitarian field, so we put together this guide to break everything down.

An LHI food distribution for Rohingya refugees in Bangladesh.

What do humanitarian aid organizations do for refugees?

Millions of people who have lost everything—their homes, livelihoods, belongings—depend on humanitarian aid organizations to survive and rebuild their lives. .

Humanitarians provide aid to help people who have been forced to flee their homes from violence, natural disasters, or instability. They distribute food, medicine, clean water, clothing, and other essentials. Humanitarian organizations also build and run important infrastructure like schools, hospitals, and shelters, as well as provide essential services for mental health, education, professional development, and resources to help generate income.

An LHI aid distribution for children in Afghanistan. We go the extra mile to include handmade stuffed animals, quilts, and “You Are Loved” cards.

Why does the US government provide funding to humanitarian aid?

Some humanitarian aid organizations receive funding from the US government. By doing so, the US advocates for human rights, promotes global stability, and supports the world’s most vulnerable people.

Providing humanitarian aid abroad helps prevent crises from getting worse, reduces the risk of widespread instability, and strengthens America’s relationships with other countries. It also addresses the root causes of forced migration, like violence and famine.

The US government also provides funding to organizations that help resettle newly arrived refugees. This ensures that refugees can successfully become part of American society by reducing their dependence on government assistance in the long run. Integrating refugees into their new communities also boosts local economies by strengthening the workforce and fueling economic growth.

We provide Ukrainian frontline hospitals with essential equipment.

Who is being affected by cuts to US humanitarian aid?

Millions of people depend on humanitarian aid to make it from one day to the next. Recent federal budget cuts in aid have already caused a sudden, devastating impact around the world.

• Nearly $500 million worth of food is rotting at ports as refugees in Sudan, Bangladesh, and Ethiopia fight hunger and famine.

• Medicines and antibiotics are expiring, instead of treating sick and elderly refugees in Myanmar.

• Hospitals in Ukraine aren’t receiving the supplies needed to operate on injured civilians.

• Clinics across Uganda and South Africa have shut down, leaving people without HIV medication and increasing the risk of infections.

• People displaced by violence in the Democratic Republic of the Congo don’t have access to clean water.

What else has been suspended or cut?

The US Refugee Admissions Program (USRAP) has been suspended, shutting America’s doors to thousands of refugees—including those who were already approved for resettlement. Check out our article here for more information on the USRAP suspension, and what the resettlement process involves.

In addition to the USRAP suspension, funding has been cut off for NGOs that help refugees after they’ve relocated to the US. These NGOs act as a support system for new arrivals, and without them, many refugees in the US are lost with no one to turn to.

Anne, LHI Refugee Resettlement Manager, met Ivone the day after she resettled in Utah. With the support of organizations like LHI, Ivone’s family was able to integrate into their community. Now, Ivone has graduated from high school with honors and is going to college.

What’s happening to the refugees who have already resettled in the US?

Transitioning from a refugee camp to everyday life in the US can present a whole new set of challenges, which is why caseworkers are essential. Each newly arrived refugee family is assigned individual caseworkers to help them make sense of their new home. Caseworkers ensure children are enrolled in school, parents find jobs, and bills are paid. They guide families on how to get around their new neighborhood, access English classes, and book doctors’ appointments.

Recent funding cuts have forced many organizations to lay off their caseworkers. The remaining staff are overwhelmed and unable to meet the needs of struggling families. Newly resettled refugees have been left with no one to help as they navigate their new lives. Isolated and uncertain, they are left wondering if they are truly welcome here.

We’re powered by people like you!

How is LHI responding?

We’re making up for what has been lost. Our team has been working around the clock to expand our programs: maternal healthcare, shipping more international aid, providing goats to build self-sufficiency in refugee camps, and conducting wellness checks for isolated families—whatever refugees need, we’re there—ensuring that refugees aren’t forgotten.

How can you help?

Act today to ensure that refugees continue receiving support:

• Donate to LHI. We completely depend on donations from individuals like you!

• Get your friends, family, or co-workers together to make aid kits based on our needs list.

• Share our posts on social media to spread awareness.

• Sign up for our newsletter to stay up to date on what’s happening in the humanitarian field.

• Volunteer at LHI: In Utah, we need volunteers to help out with care for pregnant moms and wellness checks for new families. Contact anne@lhi.org to start your background check—it’s free to you—and we’ll connect you with our refugee neighbors.

US Refugee Resettlement: What’s Actually Going On

Confused about the suspension of refugee admissions into the US? A lot of people are. There is so much information, both true and false, swirling around that it's easy to feel totally lost. We wrote this to guide you through the chaos.

Afghan refugees hold placards during a meeting to discuss their situation after President Donald Trump paused US refugee programs, in Islamabad, Pakistan, Jan. 24, 2025. (AP Photo/Anjum Naveed)

On January 20, the US government suspended the US Refugee Admissions Program (USRAP), shutting America’s doors to thousands of refugees at the height of the world’s largest displacement crisis. This unprecedented decision—which became effective on January 27—has thrown the futures of countless people into disarray, including those who had already been approved to begin a new life in the US.

Joyce, a single mother of five from South Sudan, resettled in Utah with the hope of building a safer future. Though happy to finally have a home of her own, her apartment was completely unfurnished, and her family had been sleeping on the floor for weeks. When we arrived with mattresses, furniture, and soft bedding, her children finally had a warm, comfortable place to rest. After the unimaginable difficulties of the refugee journey, we were happy to give Joyce’s family a warm welcome.

Over 10,000 refugee flights have been cancelled because of this move. Behind each of these flights is a person who has been waiting for months, if not years, to start a new life as an American. Among them are people waiting to reunite with their families, to practice their faiths and freedoms, to escape torture and death. They were promised safety in the US, and that hope has been stripped from them.

No one chooses to be a refugee. When people are displaced by violence, instability, or natural disasters, they are forced to leave everything they know behind—their homes, belongings, and livelihoods. They embark on a long, difficult journey of rejection after rejection, uncertain of where they will end up.

Mendora was born and raised in an impoverished refugee camp in Kenya, where she never had enough blankets or clothes. Thanks to the USRAP and our Welcome Program, Mendora and her family are now learning English, she’s enrolled in school, and they’re integrating into their community.

On top of the hardships that come with being displaced, the path to being resettled in the US is exceptionally difficult and long. The UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) approves of less than 1% of all refugees globally to be resettled in another country. Of that miniscule percentage, an even smaller number are referred to the US. Each person must then undergo the USRAP’s lengthy vetting process, one of the hardest pathways to immigrate to the US. This painstaking application consists of in-person interviews where people are scrutinized, recounting their traumatic stories again and again. To ensure they pose zero security risk, they complete rigorous background checks and security screenings.

Our incredible volunteers make our work possible. We will not abandon our refugee neighbors.

The administration’s decision will impact our Welcome Program, where we furnish and prepare apartments for newly arriving refugee families. As we monitor the status of the USRAP, we will adapt our programs in Utah to empower our refugee neighbors on their paths to self sufficiency.

We stand with refugees, and will continue delivering compassionate care and aid at every step of their journeys. Next, we’ll be sharing updates on how federal funding cuts to refugee-supporting NGOs are affecting resettlement efforts—and how we’re stepping up to ensure families in Utah aren’t forgotten.

LHI Humanitarian Aid Warehouse Volunteer Spotlight: Nikita

by Nikita Posvolskii , LHI Humanitarian Warehouse Volunteer

LHI Humanitarian Aid Warehouse volunteer Nikita helps to translate box labels into Ukranian.

LHI works because of people like our LHI Humanitarian Aid Warehouse volunteer Nikita. Nikita is an exchange college student from Russia. He shared this essay explaining his interest in helping LHI’s humanitarian aid efforts, especially those in Ukraine. 

My name is Nikita. Two years ago I was a Russian student getting my undergraduate degree at a university in Moscow. My peers and I loved our country and planned to pursue our careers there. Although we clearly saw our current government's flaws, we believed that we could influence them to change the country we love for the better. Our faith began to weaken after the Russian government started expelling students from their universities for their beliefs and statements that didn’t align with those of the government.

The situation for idealistic students like me became even worse the day Russia invaded Ukraine on February 24, 2022. Saying anything against the war in Ukraine can get you 15 years of imprisonment for “discrediting the Armed Forces of Russia.” You can’t even call the war in Ukraine “the war in Ukraine” without being at risk because its official name in Russia is “special military operation.” If you name it “the war” you can get the same 15 years of jail time. In fact, in the first two months after Russia started the war, more than 15,000 Russians were detained for their connection with anti-war rhetoric and protests. This placed fear in Russian citizens, coercing them into silence for the sake of their lives and the lives of their loved ones. At the same time, it is a horrible feeling to sit and maintain silence when your own country invaded Ukrainian territory and occupied an independent country. It is hard to stay silent when you are against a war that has resulted in the death and displacement of ordinary Ukrainians. 

My feelings of helplessness eased in August 2022 when I came to the U.S. as an exchange student. It’s been amazing to study at a university where students are not afraid to talk about what they really think and believe in. I quickly realized that in the U.S., I could help Ukrainian refugees both in my host community in Utah and in Ukraine itself.

Nikita helps gather materials to set up an apartment for a refugee family resettling in Utah.

My search for the opportunity to help Ukrainians whose lives have been impacted by the Russian invasion led me to the LHI Humanitarian Aid Warehouse in American Fork, Utah. 

I enjoy volunteering with LHI and helping to organize the warehouse, setting up apartments for refugees, especially those from Ukraine, packing orders for shipments overseas, and so much more. I especially enjoy translating the contents of the donation boxes into Ukrainian so it’s easier for Ukrainians to understand what is in each box when they arrive in Ukraine. I’m happy to be here in the U.S. so that I can help. In Russia, providing humanitarian assistance to Ukrainians is punishable by law. 

Nikita organizes shelves of aid that LHI includes in its international shipments.

I believe that it is important to help people who have lost their families and their homes. I am glad that I have found Lifting Hands International, an organization whose ideals match my own. Lifting Hands International exists and continues its work to change the world for the better. If you are a student in the American Fork area or just live there, I highly encourage you to get involved with LHI and make an impact to change someone's life. Let’s change our world and help those who are in need together!

LHI Looks Back on 2023

by Brigid Rowlings, LHI Communications Director

LHI’s COO Walker, Director of Monitoring and Evaluation Jaron, and Founder and Director Hayley distributed aid to survivors of the earthquakes that devastated Turkey and Syria in February.

Looking back over the past year, we cannot believe all you have helped us to do! Here are the highlights!

The LHI Community Center in Serres, Greece

LHI’s Director of Monitoring and Evaluation Jaron and founder of our Utah programs Carlissa lent some elbow grease to improvement projects at the LHI Community Center in Serres.

It was a year of continued growth and innovation at the LHI Community Center, which is located near two refugee camps in Serres, Greece. The LHI Greece team was thrilled to receive new computers for the education program and new shelving for the community center’s aid warehouse. After talking with the women who attend programs at the Female Friendly Space, the team also adjusted the way we distribute clothing, school supplies, baby items and other aid. Instead of handing out parcels, the team instead created “free shops” where beneficiaries can select their own items. This small change not only provides people with a sense of dignity, but also brings a lot of excitement and joy.

The LHI Greece team set up a free shop where parents could shop for baby items including these handmade teddy bears.

utah programs

LHI team members and volunteers loaded this container of aid for Jordan in October.

Our Utah team prepared and shipped 18 containers of material aid to places like Bangladesh, where thousands of Rohingya refugees living in a large refugee camp in Cox’s Bazar were impacted by a fire in March, Afghanistan, where 6.6 million people have been internally displaced by conflict and natural disasters, and Gaza, where over 80% of the population has been displaced. The team also sent 7 shipments to the US/Mexico border to help shelters there provide warm clothing, hygiene products, and baby kits to migrants.

The US Office for Refugee Resettlement provides local resettlement agencies with a list of items that must be in apartments of resettled refugees. If the items aren't donated, they must be purchased from the family's small stipend. LHI's Utah team relies on donations from you to keep our warehouse stocked so that we can provide all the items resettled refugees need!

The Welcome Program has grown so much that we had to expand our warehouse! So far this year, LHI volunteers have set up 285 apartments for refugees resettling in Utah. And, in addition to our long-standing partnerships with the International Rescue Committee and Catholic Community Services, LHI is now working with Cache Refugee and Immigrant Connection to make sure that resettled refugees in Logan, Utah come home to an apartment furnished with everything they need.

ukraine

The battery powered incubators you helped us provide put to good use at Bashtanka Hospital in Mykolaiv, Ukraine.

Last year, we asked you to help us get Ukrainians through a cold and uncertain winter and you responded! We were able to provide generators, battery powered infant incubators, sleeping bags and long underwear throughout Ukraine. Our teams in Ukraine have also been able to get consistent material, medical and psychological aid to frontline communities all year long.

LHI's Ukraine country director Serhii (center) organized LHI's response to the dam collapse, including finding this truck which pumped thousands of tons of water out of homes and businesses.

When the Kakhovka Dam in Kherson province ruptured in June, our teams responded not only by helping those displaced from their homes, but also by pumping thousands of tons of water out of homes and businesses. 

Moldova

Participants in the Story Time Project performed some of the Ukranian folk tales they had read for family and friends!

Looking back on all the work our Moldova team has done with Ukrainian refugees, it is hard to believe that our community center in Balti and our Storytime Project are not even a year old! Both programs provide social emotional support activities for participants and keep Ukrainian language and culture alive.

Children at the LHI Community Center in Balti participate in a yoga class, part of the social emotional supports offered to Ukrainian refugees.

jordan

LHI Founder and Director Hayley Smith toured one of the modular classrooms LHI was able to build for Syrian refugee children in Jordan.

In Jordan, it’s all about kids and kids! The first set of kids are the Syrian refugee children who have benefitted from the 3 modular classrooms we built this year. Because Jordanian schools are already at capacity, building classrooms means that Syrian children can attend school. 

This family turned the 2 milk goats they received from LHI into a herd of 25 in just 2 years!

The second set of kids are the 1,200 Shami milk goats we have distributed to Syrian refugee families. The families who benefited had been goat herders in Syria, but had to leave their herds behind when they fled civil war. Having milk goats allows these families to improve their family’s nutrition and move towards self-sufficiency as they sell milk and grow their herd. One family we visited this year had turned the two milk goats they received two years ago into 25! The income they earned from goat milk and goat products allowed them to leave the refugee camp and rent a home. 

emergency response

LHI's COO Walker distributed aid to an earthquake survivor in Turkey.

LHI specializes in responding to emergency situations quickly, talking to the people impacted, and finding out what they most need. In February, we were able to assist both Turkish and Syrian people impacted by earthquakes by providing medical and psychological first aid, hygiene kits, and food packages. 

LHI responded to the humanitarian crisis in Gaza quickly, finding partners on the ground to help us source aid and get it to civilians who need it in Gaza.

In October, we arrived in Egypt and got right to work finding the right partners to help us get aid to the over one million people displaced in the Gaza Strip. We established a partnership with the Middle East Children’s Alliance (MECA) who helped us get food and medicine into Gaza.

We Couldn’t Have Done It Without You!

Whether you are an LHI volunteer or a donor, whether you’ve tied blankets or assembled hygiene kits for a service project, or whether you are a partner or a grant provider, you are a part of our team. Thank you for your support this year. We look forward to working together again in 2024 to meet needs around the world. Simply humanitarian.

LHI's Utah Team Welcomes Resettled Refugees Home

by Brigid Rowlings, LHI Communications Director

LHI’s team of volunteers adds small but important touches, like handmade quilts and toys, to the apartments the Welcome Program sets up for refugees resettling in Utah.

In 2021, tens of thousands of vulnerable Afghans including those who’d worked alongside US personnel as translators and interpreters were evacuated from Kabul after the Taliban regained control of the country. Utah offered to welcome Afghan refugees through the federal resettlement program. Soon, hundreds of Afghans arrived. The two official refugee resettlement agencies in Utah, the International Rescue Committee (IRC) and Catholic Community Services (CCS), were tasked with managing each individual and family’s case. The LHI Utah team reached out to the IRC and asked how LHI could help.

The team quickly learned that:

1. The U.S. Refugee Admissions Program provides a small stipend for each resettled refugee to help with rent, food, clothing, household items, and case management services (as of today, November 3, 2023, that amount is $2,425). 

2. There is a list of items that the Refugee Admissions Program requires resettlement agencies like the IRC to provide in the homes they set up for refugees.

3. If the items on the list are not donated, the resettlement agency has to buy them out of the small stipend, leaving little left for other needs and necessities.

The Utah team knew just how they could help! We immediately began collecting items on the list and assembling teams of volunteers to set up warm, welcoming homes for resettled families. In 2022, we set-up 255 apartments, benefiting 1,020 refugees.  

Each of these bins represents an apartment the LHI Welcome Program is preparing to set up for a newly-arrived family. The Welcome Program team makes sure that all items a family needs is there waiting for them.

When the surge of evacuated Afghan families slowed, LHI decided to continue helping arriving refugee families arriving as a permanent, core part of our strategy to help refugees in Utah. Today, our team works with the IRC, CCS, and now Cache Refugee and Immigrant Connection (CRIC) to make sure that everything a family needs, including 2 weeks worth of groceries, is on hand. Our volunteers make beds, often with handmade quilts and blankets, and leave items like stuffed animals and school supplies to make the family’s home as comfortable and homey as possible. Often it is a stark difference to the refugee camps they had been living in. 

The LHI Welcome Program team works hard to provide families with items like these large bowls that provide a sense of familiarity as they adjust to living in a new place where so much is unfamiliar. These bowls help families from some countries prepare food and eat in a familiar way.

Coming home to an apartment that has been set up with such care can provide a sense of comfort for refugees just arriving in the United States. Anyone who qualifies for resettlement as a refugee has been through a lot. To qualify for resettlement, people must prove that they experienced persecution in their home countries. Often, the United States is the last stop on a long journey that may have included traveling in dangerous conditions and spending time in refugee camps. Although resettlement in the United States offers the promise of permanence and safety, arriving in a new country can feel overwhelming and confusing. Having a warm, inviting place to call home makes things a little easier.

If you are interested in helping LHI’s Welcome Program, there are many opportunities!

Volunteer! We have two main tasks people interested in volunteering for the Welcome Program generally do: pulling items from our warehouse stock for a set up and going to the apartment to set it up. To find out more about volunteering, please contact anne@lhi.org.

Donate items. Resettlement agencies are required to furnish all apartments with specific items before families arrive. If those items are not donated, then resettlement agencies must purchase them out of the already small stipend families receive to get them started. When you donate any of the items on our needs list, there is more money available for families to meet their basic needs. You can order directly from our Amazon wish list, or drop off donations at one of several  locations throughout the Salt Lake area. To find one near you, contact traci@lhi.org.

Donate gift cards. Gift cards to places like grocery stores, Walmart, and Amazon are always helpful! We often rely on gift cards to purchase items that we don’t have on hand in the warehouse, but that are required to be in an apartment. Gift cards can be mailed to Lifting Hands International, 920 E State Rd, Suite H, American Fork, UT 84003 or send e-gift cards to traci@lhi.org. 

Refugee Resettlement: Creating Welcoming Homes

by Carlissa Larsen, Co-Director of Utah Operatons

The Lifting Hands International team in Utah sets up several apartments for refugees resettled in the Salt Lake City area every month.

I had been warned, “They may not open the door for you.” 

I was on my way to the home of a large Afghan family of 10 people. The LHI Utah team had recently set up a home for them. This family had been evacuated from Afghanistan, screened at a US military base, and found eligible for resettlement in the United States-Salt Lake City in particular. 

Utah has received hundreds of refugees from Afghanistan. LHI works in cooperation with the two resettlement agencies in Utah, the International Rescue Committee (IRC) and Catholic Community Services (CCS), to prepare and set up family housing and to provide household items the incoming refugees will need.

When this Afghan family first arrived, they were placed in a hotel for months until more permanent housing could be arranged. A few days ago, they were finally able to settle into their new home. A couple of the items that LHI had intended to provide when we set up their home were on backorder. When the items arrived at the LHI Aid Warehouse, the resettlement agency gave me permission to bring the items to the family.

The resettlement agency warned me that the family might not answer the door because they had been through so many life threatening situations and trauma. “If they don’t answer,” the resettlement agency told me, “just leave the items on the doorstep.” 

LHI Founder and Director Hayley Smith helping to stock the kitchen in an apartment we set up for a resettled family.

As I approached the house I could smell the most delicious food cooking. Generous donors had helped us to supply the family with 2 weeks’ worth of groceries when we set up the house a few days prior.

I rang the doorbell expecting to stand there for a few minutes before leaving the items on the doorstep, but to my surprise, a young girl flung the door open without any hesitation. The girl stood there looking at me with the biggest smile I had ever seen. Maybe she was smiling because a sibling had made her laugh just as she opened the door, or maybe she was smiling because she was elated to have a visitor regardless of who that visitor might be, or maybe, just maybe she was simply content with the peace that comes from finally feeling safe at home. I smiled in return, and stepped into the house, grateful to be able to welcome this family to the community in person.

This is what our LHI local resettlement program creates: welcoming homes filled with smiles.

Join our team of volunteers who set up housing for refugees resettled in the Salt Lake area.

We are so grateful for people who donate their time, energy, supplies and finances that allow us to set up housing for incoming refugee families. If you are in the Salt Lake area and  looking for a way to help resettled refugees locally please consider one or many of the following:

• Provide Walmart gift cards- These cards allow us to purchase fresh food and household items for the families we set up housing for.

• Provide household items- see our Resettled Refugees needs list. It is federally mandated that certain items are provided to each family. If items aren’t donated, then they must be purchased with the small stipend designated for each family. So donating items significantly helps the family financially because they can use their stipend for other needs.

• Volunteer to help with the set-up. We do multiple set-ups each week and would love to have your help.

• Become a Team Lead and be in charge of setting up housing. This should be a consideration for those who want to help set up housing regularly and not just one or two times. 

Contact me at carlissa@lhi.org with any questions.

Room in the Inn

’Tis the season of giving and serving, of watching your kids cry on Santa’s lap, of shopping for gifts for loved ones, of getting together with friends and family to eat good food. For believers, ’tis also the season that reflect on the birth of Jesus Christ, the redeemer of the world. The story of His birth is pretty harsh, no matter what you believe: What if Mary and Joseph hadn’t been turned away from the inn? What if the Savior of the world didn't have to be born in a filthy stable surrounded by farm animals? Every time I hear the story I think that the inn keeper is kind of lame. Surely, there was room in the inn for a woman in labor. 

Fast forward a few thousand years. The global refugee crisis has now become a local one, whether we like it or not. It was bound to hit the USA, and now it has. In a strange twist of events, we are now the inn keeper. We have the power to decide if we want to help or not. A record number of refugees have been assigned to the Phoenix Valley and we have some of the most needy, humble people at our doorstep. So, we can offer our various talents and services to help welcome them, or we can shut the door and let them figure it out on their own. It’s kind of a no-brainer, guys.

Don’t take the metaphor too literally — you don’t have to actually house refugees. There are so many simple ways to help them directly or indirectly, and we will tell you how. But first, let’s set the record straight on refugees and why we need to do the right thing.

• Refugees are not economic immigrants. They have been forced to choose between fleeing their homes or death. Big difference there.

• They get very limited services upon arrival. Think everything is taken care of for them? It’s not! $925 per person ONCE is not a lot to cover rent, which is not free or even subsidized. Small families especially suffer.

• They do not drain our resources - the USA has always taken in refugees. Hundreds of thousands in the last 30 years alone. In fact, The USA has consistently taken in half of all refugees who get resettled. 

• Refugees are heavily vetted via a long and difficult process.  

• There is no reason to be afraid. No refugee from any country has committed an act of terrorism in the USA. Statistically speaking, driving down the road with your seatbelt on is more dangerous than allowing the world’s most trodden people to enter our borders. 

So, back to how you can help: the Federal agencies that resettle refugees are overwhelmed. They need our help to take care of some of the more time-consuming and non-essential tasks like locating furniture, so that their case workers can actually focus more on the families' immediate emotional, medical, and temporal needs. That’s where we come in.

Furnish an apartment. Pick a family up from the airport. Run a drive for certain needed items. Donate needed items. Volunteer at our warehouse. Run a fundraiser. Open the doors to the inn and find refugee families some room. Use your unique talents to bless those who have literally lost everything. It will be the most meaningful bit of service you've ever done.

Visit www.liftinghandsinternational.org/phoenix to sign up. 

Resettlement process

Only 1% of refugees worldwide get resettled. Half of them end up in the United States. 

Refugees who get settled in the USA have been through the ringer. It takes an average of 2 years of interviews with the UNHCR to find out if they will be resettled. Once assigned to the USA, they must go through another 2 or so years of interviews with a handful of government agencies, such as the Dept. of Homeland Security, the FBI, and the NSA. 

Once assigned to a city in the USA, 1 of 9 national resettlement agencies will help get them set up with the basics -- an apartment with minimal furnishings (any furnishings come out of their stipend), food stamps, insurance, orientation classes, and a one-time stipend per family member.

In Phoenix, refugees tend to get placed in Glendale, since landlords there generally don't require a credit check and also look the other way when it comes to the state law requiring no more than two tenants per bedroom. That's why we have large families with 7 kids in one room, for example.

Families are required to wait 6 months before they can even apply for government subsidized housing. Once they do apply, there is an extremely long waiting list. Rent in Glendale runs around $750-$900/month, so most of their one-time stipend goes towards rent. Hopefully by the time they run out of their stipend money, they will have procured jobs and are self-sufficient. 

This is where we come in: Resettlement agencies give Lifting Hands International referrals for families who especially need help obtaining furniture, getting settled, etc. so that they can save their stipend for other costs. We then collect donated furniture and have volunteers 1. set up apartments for incoming smaller families (smaller families = less money), or 2. fill in the gaps for all families who could just really use some help. Furnishing apartments not only saves them money, but also helps so much with the difficult transition to America. While America is the land of the free and the home of the brave, culture shock is alive and well. Everything is different. We try to make it a little easier for them by providing safe, warm, and beautiful space for them. 

Live in the PHX area and interested in helping out? Sign up at volunteer@lhi.org.