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RefugeeOne will welcome 850+ refugees to Chicago this year. Although most recently arrived families are from Afghanistan, we anticipate an influx in refugees from other parts of the world, especially Ukraine.
Click here to learn more about Afghan refugees. Click here to read our updates on Ukrainian refugees. |
Chicago Area Welcoming Another Wave of Afghan Refugees
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CHICAGO TRIBUNE: ‘Overnight their lives were just uprooted’
Chicagoland resettlement agencies and related nonprofit groups have worked on overdrive with strained resources since the U.S. completed its troop withdrawal from Afghanistan in August, leaving the country in control of the Taliban and tens of thousands of people evacuated to the U.S. due to the humanitarian crisis there. Many Afghan workers who aided the U.S. military during the war have sought asylum in other countries, fearing for their safety under a Taliban regime. |
‘Bring them here’: Chicago man, reunited with family stranded in Afghanistan, pleads for US to evacuate extended family
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CHICAGO TRIBUNE - Amer felt proud wearing the uniform. Starting as a teenager, he spent six years helping the U.S. military as a translator in Afghanistan, seeing the death and destruction war brought... but he’s still living with the consequences of his involvement.
Recently, he was reminded of the haunting things he saw during his service through the gaunt eyes of his own family members when he reunited with them at O’Hare. Even after hugging them at O’Hare, relief evades him. “I was proud of what I’ve done. And I’m still ready whenever they call me... But [the U.S.] should take care of their own people.” |
‘Where Will They Go?’: Afghans Fleeing Taliban Find Refuge In Chicago
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NPR's WBEZ CHICAGO - Families have already started to arrive in the U.S. Now, local agencies like RefugeeOne will help them build a new life.
“This isn’t just some abstract conflict that’s happening across the globe,” said Jims Porter, the group’s communications and advocacy manager. “It’s really impacting hundreds of Afghans already living here in Chicago, many of whom have families that are either trying to flee or are stuck in Afghanistan right now.” |
With Gentrification On the Rise, RefugeeOne Leaves Uptown After 35 Years
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BLOCK CLUB CHICAGO - RefugeeOne has helped newly arrived refugees resettle in Chicago, often finding them housing and jobs in the nonprofit’s home base of Uptown, for more than three decades.
But the center of refugee life in Chicago has shifted from Uptown — where development and gentrification have driven up housing prices — to neighborhoods like West Ridge, Rogers Park and Albany Park. |