“An Iowa non-profit is ready to shelter Afghan refuges.
The Catherine McAuley Center in Cedar Rapids is the only refugee and immigrant service provider in Eastern Iowa. No Afghan immigrants have reached out to the center, but officials with the center told Iowa’s News Now they will accept any refugees.
Afghanistan natives are trying to escape their war-weary country, which is now under Taliban control. U.S. military planes are conducting around-the-clock evacuations at the airport in Kabul, the country’s capital, after the collapse on Sunday of the government.
“It’s difficult, you know. It pulls at the heart strings,” said Sara Zejnic, the director of immigrant and refugee services at the Catherine McAuley Center. “Every time a refugee shares their story, it’s an honor, because this is someone opening up their greatest fears to you. The process for refugees to enter into the United States takes an extremely long time.”
The people the nonprofit normally work with are people from places like Somalia, Sudan, Iraq, Myanmar and Congo.
The nonprofit is expecting to see more than twice the number of immigrants it saw from October 2020 to September 2021 in its next fiscal year. The center saw 120 immigrants during that span….”
View the whole story here: https://cbs2iowa.com/news/local/cedar-rapids-nonprofit-ready-to-accept-afghan-refugees-amid-chaos