Chestnut Hill’s Church of St. Martin-in-the-Fields is aiding in the resettlement to Philadelphia of an Afghan family whose father worked in logistics for a company that supported U.S. military forces.

Facing threats and harassment after the Taliban took over, the family began the lengthy process of seeking visas. They first moved to Tajikistan, where they stayed for 14 months until they could get visas to come to the United States.

The church’s Refugee and Immigration Committee was notified of the family’s needs through HIAS Pennsylvania, an organization originally created to help Jewish refugees. The family, whose names the Local is keeping anonymous for safety reasons, consists of the father, his wife, and their five children, ages 8, 14, 18, 19, and 20.

Due to the father’s aid to the U.S., the family received Special Immigrant Visas, making them legal permanent residents entitled to Social Security cards and Green cards.

Before the family arrived in May, church and committee members had a short time frame to act and secure resources for the family.

“Because [HIAS] has had serious funding and staffing challenges — I think they have to lay off half their staff because they lost so much federal funding — they weren’t able to help us as much as usual,” St. Martin-in-the-Fields’ Rector, the Rev. Dr. Mary Barber, told the Local. They would usually have given us a month of Airbnb so that we could look for an apartment for the family. They gave us two weeks. None of that was their fault; they were also in a serious situation.”

They quickly secured housing for the family, but the challenge is far from over. As SNAP benefits remain uncertain, and family members search for jobs, St. Martin-in-the-Fields will continue to support them, but need donations to their GoFundMe.

“They have relatives in Philadelphia, which is one of the reasons why they came specifically to Philadelphia,” Doug MacBride, a committee member, told the Local. “Initially, we had to provide housing. We used Airbnb, and it was a week here, two weeks there. It was a messy and expensive operation, but fortunately, very quickly, we were able to identify a house for them to rent in Northeast Philadelphia, within walking distance of their relatives, which was just fabulous.”

Challenges ahead

This isn’t the first time St. Martin-in-the-Fields has sponsored immigrants coming to the U.S.

“This is something we’re familiar with. And it’s also very hard for new immigrants that come with certain skills, and yet it’s very hard for them to find work,” Barber said.

Barber said the church previously sponsored a couple who were physicians in their home country, but are now working in translation services in a hospital.

“They don’t even get full-time hours; they’re really struggling just to make ends meet. Also, it doesn’t feel good to not be able to use all your skills that you have, but that’s where they are,” Barber said.

The family is currently learning English, which adds to the challenge of finding jobs. While the younger siblings are learning in the Philadelphia school system, the parents and older siblings are being tutored.

Both parents and the eldest sons are seeking work and learning to navigate SEPTA while at it. MacBride said that while committee members have offered the family rides to places, they are enthusiastic about using public transit.

“The father in this family had worked in logistics at a construction site … he’s currently looking at real entry-level jobs that will not be anywhere near, not only salary, but the kind of gratification that comes from work, because his English skills need a lot of development,” MacBride said. “GoFundMe will provide support for them for rent, utilities, and food.”

To help maintain the family’s privacy, only a handful of members of the church and committee interact with them and know where they live.

MacBride said that every time they visit, the family insists on cooking for them and sharing a meal. As they’ve learned English, communication has been easier. They often use a translation phone app to communicate.

Learning English and finding jobs in the current job market is no easy task.

“They want to be independent as quickly as possible. And they’ve been doing their part to hustle on all of these things,” Barber said.

MacBride agreed: “They’re very generous, very optimistic people. They’ve had a really rough couple of years, and their enthusiasm and optimism is terrific.”

With all their effort and the uncertainty of SNAP benefits, the family will need more support going forward.

“The model is supposed to be that we support them for six months and then they’re independent, but that’s clearly not realistic. We’re thinking a year is more realistic, and after that, we may even need to give them a little bit of support,” Barber said.

MacBride said they are hoping to raise $35,000 to $40,000 to support the family moving forward.

Anyone interested in donating can search “From the Taliban to Safety: Help Support an Afghan Family” on gofundme.com

Tommy Tucker can be reached at Tommy@Chestnuthilllocal.com.