That is the way it used to be and should be again. Most citizens believe that when refugees arrive in their town or city that the refugee family will have a sponsor. It could be a church or other civic group, or even a family with adequate resources, but that isn’t the case.
Here is an article about a fundraising event in Lancaster, PA that confirms that refugee families who do not have sponsors simply have less. If government contractors, like Church World Service, worked harder I’m convinced they could get families sponsored. And, if they can’t, don’t bring anymore refugees to that town till sponsors are found.
This year, donations have been down, and we are thankful for any help we receive for arriving refugee families,” she (director Church World Service Lancaster office) said.
With the nearly $907 that Church World Service received, the refugee agency was able to supply essentials for families coming to the county without official church sponsors.
She said CWS has resettled 21 families since Oct. 1 from Burma, Bhutan and Iraq, and only five had church sponsors.
So if they are struggling in Lancaster, why is that city one of the Office of Refugee Resettlement’s “Preferred Communities?”