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Catholic Charities Home > Refugee Immigration Services > Afghan Placement and Assitance Program > How Can You Help Afghan Arrivals

How You Can Help Afghan Arrivals

Donate

Monetary donations are always appreciated as it enables us/clients to purchase the sizes and season needed for clothing or to assist in setting up a new household with essentials like bedding and cleaning products. Donate Now Online or mail a check payable to Catholic Charities Maine to:

Attention: Development Office
P.O. Box 10660
Portland, ME 04104

*In the Memo line please note the Refugee & Immigration Services (RIS) Program

 

Gifts In-Kind

Due to the limitations we have to store donations, if it is not an item on our current Wish List, Catholic Charities Maine Refugee & Immigration Services (RIS) is pleased to partner with two of Southern Maine’s leading organizations in collection and distribution of donated goods. RIS works with Maine Needs – a volunteer-run collaborative group accepting and administering a wide variety of household and personal care goods; and Furniture Friends – a Westbrook-based nonprofit that collects all kinds of furniture to be distributed to Maine families in need of support in furnishing their households.

More information on the donations requests of Maine Needs can be found here and information for Furniture Friends’ specific needs can be found here.

We are pleased to partner with these explicitly donation-oriented organizations, who are doing incredible work to maximize the positive impact of such goods.

Volunteer

Support our Refugee & Immigration Services Program with tasks such as:

For more information on volunteer opportunities at Refugee and Immigration Services, please contact Karen Brewer at [email protected] 

 

A Place to Live

If you or someone you know owns a rental property (in cities within 100 miles of Portland with access to public transportation, English language learning classes and with rates that fall within local General Assistance guidelines), please reach to us to discuss the possibility of renting to newly arrived clients! Housing remains one of the most significant challenges to overcome in the resettlement service provision process and we welcome all resources for that need.

At this time we do not place arrivals with local families.  Our goal is to resettle individuals and families in permanent housing as soon as possible. While sometimes, due to the short notice we receive, arrivals have to stay in temporary housing ideally we welcome them “home” to something more permanent. Because a Host Family program requires extensive training and would require hosts to undergo extensive background checks we do not have a Host Family program in place. 

 

A Place to Work

If you own a business and would be interested in  learning more about employing refugees, please click here