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Catholic Charities

Charities' Spring Celebration to honor refugee resettlement efforts

Friday, April 15, 2022Culture

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Recognizing the magnitude of the task before them, groups of volunteers known as community sponsorship sites have come together to support agency efforts and help their new neighbors acclimate into society.

In an apartment complex just outside Boston, three young Afghan evacuees are rebuilding their lives. All in their young 20s, they abruptly had to flee their homes in Kabul and start again. But thanks to a group of dedicated volunteers from St. John-St. Paul Collaborative in Wellesley, they are not alone.

Catholic Charities Boston is one of only six resettlement agencies in Massachusetts, with a long history of working alongside the federal and state government and other partners to support refugee families and individuals who have fled war, political upheaval, and persecution in order to establish roots in the U.S.

Since the withdrawal of military forces in Afghanistan last August, the U.S. has evacuated more than 76,000 Afghan nationals to the U.S., according to the Department of Homeland Security. Out of those individuals, Catholic Charities Boston has worked tirelessly to resettle nearly 160 Afghan refugees across Massachusetts, in partnership with the Jewish Community Relations Council and with funding from Combined Jewish Philanthropies.

Recognizing the magnitude of the task before them, groups of volunteers known as community sponsorship sites have come together to support agency efforts and help their new neighbors acclimate into society. Including St. John-St. Paul Collaborative, 30 community sites representing churches, synagogues, cities and towns can be found across the state, from Cape Ann to Cape Cod and everywhere in between.

Volunteers within community sponsorship sites assist with securing housing and transportation, provide food and necessities, and help Afghan refugees become familiar with their new culture and environments.

Catholic Charities is proud to recognize these 30 community sites as the honorees at this year's annual Spring Celebration Gala, which will take place on Thursday, May 19, at the John F. Kennedy Presidential Library and Museum in Boston.

"This interfaith effort is having a profound effect on so many lives," said Marjean A. Perhot, vice president of Refugee and Immigrant Services at Catholic Charities. "We are so grateful for the contributions of our volunteers and look forward to celebrating their selfless efforts."

The community sites will receive the agency's highest honor, the newly renamed John and Virginia Kaneb Justice and Compassion Award.

The annual gala celebrates Catholic Charities' core values of justice and compassion and raises the significant funds necessary to continue the agency's crucial work across Eastern Massachusetts. Eighty-five cents of every dollar donated directly supports the agency's programs and enables Catholic Charities to continue expanding and enhancing services that continue to support the most vulnerable populations within local communities.

For more information, please visit ccab.org/springcelebration.

SHANNON LYONS IS THE PR AND COMMUNICATIONS MANAGER FOR CATHOLIC CHARITIES BOSTON.