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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. |
RefugeeOne Opens New Headquarters In West Ridge As Agency Nearly Doubles To Address Refugee Crisis
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BLOCK CLUB CHICAGO:
We're moving! While everything is still being finalized and we still are not full open to the public, we have moved all our refugee services to a new building. This new building will allow RefugeeOne to bring all of its services under one roof for the first time in its 40-year history. This means english classes, case management, youth programs and much more! It also comes at a time of rapid expansion as we seek to meet the needs of a worldwide refugee crisis. Read a preview of what's new and how things are going in Block Club's Article. |
She escaped the Taliban. A year later, her fate — like thousands of Afghans — is in limbo.
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WBEZ CHICAGO:
“I have nightmares where I feel that I am still in Afghanistan and the Taliban are searching for me and they’re going to kill me or my family,” said Meena, who resettled in Chicago. “I cannot go back.” After receiving threats from the Taliban because of her work with the U.S. embassy in Afghanistan, Meena was evacuated from the Kabul airport in August 2021. Now she works for RefugeeOne, helping refugees like herself apply for asylum — while she agonizingly awaits the results of her own asylum application. |
One year after the US withdrew from Afghanistan, refugees find support from all corners of Chicago
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CHICAGO TRIBUNE:
“I arrived here in the winter; it was really difficult for me… in the beginning,” said Zaland in an interview with the Chicago Tribune. He and Ansha had been soldiers in Afghanistan—now with the help of RefugeeOne, they’ve found gainful employment and rebuilt their lives in the U.S. Read more about Zaland and Ansha's story and how they adjust to life in the United States over the past year. |
Ukrainian refugee and her son start a new life in Chicago suburbs. For them ‘there is no place to go back to.’
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CHICAGO TRIBUNE: 'Ukraine mother recounts the horrors of war'
“Most importantly, it’s safe” These are the powerful words shared by Kateryna, a Ukrainian refugee, with the Chicago Tribune about her new life in the United States. RefugeeONE welcomed Kateryna and her son to Chicago after her home in Mariupol was completely destroyed. Since then we have been supporting her along with other Ukrainians in building a new life here. Read Kateryna's story about her harrowing journey from Mariupol to the U.S. where she hopes to one day become a nurse again. |
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. |
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. |