The family poses with WARM volunteers and RIACPhoto: Kim Tunnicliffe / WBZ
WORCESTER, Mass. (WBZ NewsRadio) – The first of dozens of Afghan refugee families are being resettled as they arrive in central Massachusetts.
Recently, a two-bedroom apartment on Vernon Hill in Worcester became the home of an Afghan couple and their three children, thanks to the help of a Boston-based aid organization.
Jennifer Frye is the executive director of the Welcoming Alliance for Refugee Ministry (WARM). She said her group helped get the house ready for the family’s arrival.
“Twenty people came to offload the truck of furniture, clean the apartment and then set everything up.”
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The organization works to help refugees resettled from all over the world. In response to the influx of families fleeing rule under the Taliban, WARM has turned their more of their attention to the evacuees who are being relocated to Massachusetts.
“The US government expects to place up to 75,000 Afghans into communities around the country between now and March 2022,” the organization wrote on their website. “They will come as families, single people, and unaccompanied minors from all age brackets.”
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Megan from Northborough said helping to clean out the apartment. She said it felt good to make the family feel as welcomed as possible.
“It’s got to be so overwhelming to have gone through what they’ve been through and then to be moving to a completely different country," she said.
Frye was also at the home when the family first arrived.
“The children were able to say thank you [and] got right into some of their toys,” she said. “The parents were very thankful for everything that has already been done.”
WBZ’s Kim Tunnicliffe (@KimWBZ) has more:
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