Many Iowa services play vital role for refugees during resettlement

Shiragha Safi still was on the battlefield when the Taliban took control of Afghanistan in August 2021. He had spent most of his life fighting with U.S. soldiers in his home country, and he never thought he’d be forced to flee.

But Safi now is living in Des Moines, and while he’s glad he’s no longer in danger of retaliation from the Taliban, he has had a hard time getting comfortable in Iowa. He has medical issues related to injuries he sustained fighting in Afghanistan — he survived six car bombs — so finding a job has been difficult since he can’t be on his feet for long periods of time. He also has needed assistance getting in touch with doctors and navigating everyday life in a country with which he is unfamiliar.

Safi said his case workers have been hard to get hold of, and he’s only managed to get by because of a volunteer-run organization, Des Moines Refugee Support. Safi spends much of his own time volunteering with that group, helping to translate for other Afghans and get them connected to services.

“We can fight a war … but we don’t know how to live life in the U.S.,” Safi said. “We didn’t learn how to find food for yourself here, how to make an appointment with the doctor. We don’t know those things. We need those things, and someone to help us until we learn it. Otherwise, we are only suffering here.”

Iowa has a long history of refugee resettlement, starting after the United States withdrew from Vietnam and it was one of the first American states to respond to a request for asylum for thousands of Tai Dam. Now Iowa has the Bureau of Refugee Services, a part of the Department of Human Services, which works with resettlement agencies across the state to place refugees and address their short-term and long-term needs.

When America withdrew from Afghanistan in 2021, the influx of Afghan refugees was unprecedented. Many resettlement agencies already had been facing budget and staffing cuts, and they were not prepared for so many refugees to arrive all at once. The agencies did what they could, and many other organizations stepped in to help — but for Safi and many other Afghans, the struggle to survive, and thrive, is ongoing.

Helping refugees survive

Most of the basic needs of refugees ideally are taken care of by the resettlement agencies during a refugee’s first 90 days in the state. When the refugees first arrive, they are greeted at the airport by case workers from resettlement agencies and, when possible, are taken straight from the airport to an apartment or house stocked with culturally appropriate groceries and other necessities.

For the next 90 days, the resettlement agencies work to ensure the refugee’s basic needs are being met, including concerns such as finding employment, procuring transportation, getting connected with health services and navigating the logistical issues that come with settling in a new country, according to Natalie Rork from Lutheran Services of Iowa, a Des Moines-based resettlement agency.

Many of the barriers refugees face are interdependent, according to Rork. For example, it can be difficult for refugees to obtain a job if they don’t have transportation, but they can’t save up money for a car if they don’t have a job.

The resettlement agencies and other organizations, such as Des Moines Refugee Support, work with refugees to find workarounds for these dilemmas. For transportation, refugees often rely on community members for carpooling.

Alison Hoeman, founder and director of Des Moines Refugee Support, has arranged for teachers and other school district employees to help children get to school. She also assists with arranging transportation for adult refugees who need to ride to a Department of Motor Vehicles office for driver’s license tests or to a doctor’s office for medical appointments.

Des Moines Refugee Support also pays a service $1,000 per week to help transport children to a weekly soccer program that the not-for-profit offers for refugee families. Hoeman said she spent a while trying to get community members to help give rides for soccer, but found it was easier to ask for monetary donations.

“Lots of times there are more people willing to throw money at the problem than to throw their time at the problem,” Hoeman said.

Helping refugees thrive

Some services, such as youth sports, don’t come into play for refugees until after their more urgent needs have been addressed. So services such as for mental health, community building and educational opportunities are an important part of getting settled, but aren’t always the first priority.

“After those 90 days of initial resettlement, there’s so many things still that people need. The support shouldn’t stop there,” said Livvy Su, program coordinator of RISE AmeriCorps, an organization that focuses on helping connect refugees with education and job opportunities, run through the not-for-profit Embarc.

Getting a job is usually one of the first priorities for new refugees, Su said. But after getting settled, refugees often seek help finding better opportunities.

Many refugees in Iowa start their own small businesses, with help from resettlement agencies such as Lutheran Services of Iowa. Child care businesses are some of the most common, according to Rork.

“In-home day care is an excellent (business) because then if people go to work, they can leave their children with someone from their culture that they already kind of trust,” Rork said.

The resettlement agencies have various other programs, such as discounted mental health services, savings match programs and summer youth programs, that refugees can use after their 90-day resettlement period is up.

The resettlement agencies also work with other organizations to provide additional services. YPN (formerly Young Parents’ Network) often receives referrals from the Catherine McAuley Center, a Cedar Rapids-based resettlement agency, according to Chelsey Steckly, YPN program supervisor.

YPN is a not-for-profit that provides services for families. Through participation, families earn points they can use to purchase essentials such as diapers and formula from YPN’s store.

For Afghan refugee parents, YPN offered a parent cafe for several weekly meetings, Steckley said. During the meetings, parents would discuss questions about topics related to parenthood, including questions about relationships, finances, and emotional and mental health. These discussions allowed the parents to learn from each other and form stronger community bonds in Cedar Rapids, according to Minouche Bandubuila, a program specialist with YPN.

After the parent cafe ended, the refugee families were integrated into the other programs YPN offers.

Another long-term service that many refugees need is mental health care, according to Sara Zejnic, director of Refugee and Immigrant Services for the Catherine McAuley Center.

The center is working with the Bureau of Refugee Services, the University of Iowa and other agencies across the state on a mental health project for refugees that involves training members of the immigrant community to moderate group discussions about mental health.

“The basic premise of it is that it brings together a group of refugees, a group of individuals who’ve got a shared experience, and just gives them an opportunity … to talk through what their experiences are,” Zejnic said.

Many refugees face trauma, before and after arriving in the United States. The situation of Afghan refugees makes them especially susceptible to mental health issues, according to Rork.

“Just the trauma of going through (resettlement) by itself is significant, minus living in a war zone for the last 20 years and being constantly afraid for your life,” Rork said.

Roadblocks faced by Afghan refugees

When the Afghans arrived in large groups all at once, they had a harder time getting quickly connected to the services normally available.

The Catherine McAuley Center resettled almost 250 Afghans in Cedar Rapids between October 2021 and February 2022, according to Zejnic. In the entire year before receiving Afghans, the center resettled 40 refugees.

According to Rork, about 700 Afghan refugees were settled in the

Des Moines area as of March 2022 through the Lutheran Services of Iowa and the other two resettlement agencies in Des Moines.

The resettlement agencies and the Bureau of Refugee Services usually have two or three weeks of warning before a refugee family arrives. But with the Afghans, the Bureau was getting anywhere from six hours to 48 hours notice, according to Mak Suceska, the bureau chief.

The agencies did what they could to prepare, but there’s a lot that can’t happen until the specifics of who is coming are known, according to Celestin Ndagije, a case manager with the Catherine McAuley Center.

“The Afghan refugees was a special situation because there were so many coming and every day we were receiving. Sometimes we were receiving two groups in one day,” Ndagije said.

Afghan refugees waited in hotels for weeks before they were placed in permanent housing. Many, like Safi, were frustrated with the lack of help available from the overwhelmed resettlement case workers.

Moving forward

The Bureau of Refugee Services is looking at the possibility of welcoming Ukranian refugees in the coming months and years, Suceska said, but he anticipates the situation will be more similar to past groups, with refugees coming a few at a time over several years.

Suceska acknowledged there still are gaps in the system, but the bureau is consistently working to recognize and address those gaps.

“If we’ve learned anything from the Afghan evacuation and resettlement … it’s that we are going to be much more prepared now going forward to be able to enhance that existing infrastructure for groups that will be arriving,” Suceska said.

Comments: (319) 398-8328; emily.andersen@thegazette.com

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Zia Zakhail (left) translates for refugee and immigrant services resource navigator Abby Freese (center) as she helps Gul Rahman Balooch update information for e Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) benefits for his family at the Catherine McAuley Center in southeast Cedar Rapids, Iowa, on Tuesday, May 24, 2022. Zakhail, who came to the United States as an Afghan parolee, works as a case manager of the Afghan Parolee Assistance Program at the center. (Jim Slosiarek/The Gazette)

Zia Zakhail (left) translates for refugee and immigrant services resource navigator Abby Freese (not seen) as she updates information for Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) benefits for fellow Afghan parolee Gul Rahman Balooch and his family at the Catherine McAuley Center in southeast Cedar Rapids, Iowa, on Tuesday, May 24, 2022. Zakhail, who came to the United States as an Afghan parolee, works as a case manager of the Afghan Parolee Assistance Program at the center. (Jim Slosiarek/The Gazette)

Zia Zakhail smiles as he shares a light moment while translating for refugee and immigrant services resource navigator Abby Freese (not seen) as she helps Gul Rahman Balooch update information for e Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) benefits for his family at the Catherine McAuley Center in southeast Cedar Rapids, Iowa, on Tuesday, May 24, 2022. Zakhail, who came to the United States as an Afghan parolee, works as a case manager of the Afghan Parolee Assistance Program at the center. (Jim Slosiarek/The Gazette)

Aftab Afridi buys Fatayer hand pies for a group of Afghan men admitted to the United States as humanitarian parolees that he is helping after prayers at the Muslim American Society of Iowa mosque in northeast Cedar Rapids, Iowa, on Friday, November 5, 2021. (Jim Slosiarek/The Gazette)

The suitcase of Shakil Safi (left) is seen as he waits in the baggage claim area after arriving at The Eastern Iowa Airport in southwest Cedar Rapids, Iowa, on Friday, October 29, 2021. Safi, an Afghan refugee, arrived with fellow refugee Zia Zikhail. (Jim Slosiarek/The Gazette)