Donate now to help Afghan refugees

Published: March 4, 2024

Catholic Charities of Arkansas (CCA) is currently assisting 99 Afghan refugees as part of a national response to the humanitarian crisis in Afghanistan after the Taliban seized control in August 2021. Ken Bohac is serving as a case manager for Afghan cases for CCA's Refugee Resettlement Office.

"Our office continues to work with Afghans who arrived in 2021 and 2022. Our goal is for each individual to reach self-sufficiency and live a stable joyful life in the United States of America. In the meantime, we do expect more Afghans to arrive who we will also work with to resettle in their new communities," said Jennifer Verkamp-Ruthven, refugee resettlement director.

Verkamp-Ruthven said her office formed sponsor teams from the interfaith community to adopt families to help provide housing, furnishings, clothing and food. The U.S. Department of State's U.S. Refugee Admissions Program: Reception and Placement provides relocated Afghans 30 to 90 days of assistance and CCA is receiving some funding to assist refugees from the federal government through the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops' Migration and Refugee Services, but monetary donations are still needed to cover the remaining expenses, which could include interpreters or housing. All donations go directly to serve the needs of Afghan refugees.

"As Christians, we are called to do all we can to help our brothers and sisters in their time of need," Bishop Anthony B. Taylor told Arkansas Catholic regarding the Afghan refugees in September 2021. "Moreover, most of us are ourselves, the descendants of immigrants who came to this country in their time of need. Having been refugees here ourselves, at least in the person of our ancestors, we are all the more obligated to extend a welcome to immigrants today, and especially to refugees who often come here fleeing for their very lives."

Donate online through Catholic Charities of Arkansas. Select "Refugee Resettlement" in the drop down menu. You can make a one-time gift or a weekly, bimonthly or monthly donation.

CCA began resettling Afghan refugees after they began arriving in Little Rock in October 2021. Gov. Asa Hutchinson had announced that Afghan refugees would be resettled in Arkansas with assistance from faith-based organizations and local sponsors.

The Refugee Resettlement Office, with the help of the USCCB's Migration and Refugee Services, has been resettling Afghan refugees in central Arkansas, and Canopy Northwest Arkansas, which is affiliated with Lutheran Immigration and Refugee Services, has been resettling Afghan refugees in northwest Arkansas.

For more information, contact Ken Bohac, refugee resettlement case manager, at (501) 664-0340. To learn more about this crisis, visit the USCCB's Justice for Immigrants.