Local churches stepping up aid for Afghan refugees

Volunteers work with children in the Homework Club.

Church members who’ve been aiding refugees from Afghanistan for years are stepping up their support as many more Afghanis fleeing the Taliban are expected to settle in Northern Virginia.

A group of churches that are members of the Annandale Christian Community for Action (ACCA) formed a Homework Club in 2018 to help families from Afghanistan who had worked with the U.S. military and gotten Special Immigrant Visas.

The Homework Club started with 11 families, says ACCA volunteer Marie Monsen. She expects that to double as more Afghanis arrive.

The program was organized by volunteers from Peace Lutheran Church in Lincolnia and John Calvin Presbyterian Church, Little River United Church of Christ, and Ravensworth Baptist Church in Annandale. 

They started out helping children with schoolwork twice a month on Saturday mornings at Peace Lutheran, then switched to Zoom when the COVID pandemic took hold. 

The churches got a small grant to hire two Afghanis to teach English to adults on Saturday and Sunday mornings. There is a class for beginners and a conversational class for people at a more advanced level. 

Refugees learn English literacy at classes held at Peace Lutheran Church.

Then in July, an Afghani-American who lives at Skyline Towers in Bailey’s Crossroads reached out to the new wave of refugees temporarily housed at Fort Lee and helped five of them get apartments in his complex. He takes them shopping and helps them adjust to life in the U.S. 

“They now have a little community” at Skyline Towers, Monsen says. Another seven Afghani families just moved into Skyline and more are expected. The volunteers liked the idea of Afghanis who’d been here for years, or even decades, helping the newcomers, so they set up a mentor program. 

“We saw the trauma families are undergoing,” she says, noting that one child saw people blown up in the street. The mentors have first-hand knowledge of the impact of violence, and volunteers help the refugees connect with mental health counseling. 

“Our strength is we’re building a community of Afghani Americans so they can rely on each other and talk to each other,” Monsen says. 

The churches also assist them with basic needs. The first priority is safety, following by housing, then jobs, Monsen says. “The whole community has been extremely generous.” 

In one case, the volunteers helped a newly arrived family with two toddler girls who came to the U.S. with nothing but the clothes on their back. They were put up in a motel and given grocery gift cards. Then when the Afghani who lives at Skyline Towers found them an apartment, church members continued to help, contributing a week’s worth of groceries and bags of toys for the children. 

“Within three days, we had commitments for an entire apartment’s worth of furnishings, including beds and dressers,” Monsen says. “The family was overwhelmed after what they’d been through.”

Related story: Here’s how to help Afghan refugees

She says the churches will be able to expand their assistance when they receive more funding. She hopes volunteers could help provide enrichment activities for the kids, such as trips to the zoo and sports programs and helping the adults find jobs. 

The refugees’ biggest needs are backpacks, computers, and gift cards. While the children get computers from school, adults need them for job hunting and practicing English. 

Anyone who wants to help can bring gift cards to Peace Lutheran Church (6362 Lincolnia Road) or send a check to ACCA (7200 Columbia Pike, Annandale VA 22003).