TAMPA, Fla. — The U.S. military exit from Afghanistan may be the end of the war, but it's just the beginning of needed services to help Afghan refugees who were able to escape the country.
"Many of the individuals that will be coming will have significant trauma," said Sylvia Acevedo with Gulf Coast Jewish Family Community Services in Tampa. "They will be dealing with, you know, many of them will have left family behind in some cases, worried about their safety and wellbeing."
What You Need To Know
- Gulf Coast Jewish Family Community Services working behind the scenes to help place Afghan refugees
- To donate or volunteer with Gulf Coast Jewish Family Community Services
- Afghanistan updates: U.S. withdrawal complete, ending 20 years of war
Acevedo said Gulf Coast Jewish Family Community Services has been helping to place refugees since the time of the Holocaust, and she says the crisis in Afghanistan presents a unique set of challenges, specifically the speed at which the evacuation happened as well as how quickly the process for refugees has evolved in recent weeks.
Some Afghans with Special Immigrant Visas or SIV's could be resettled in the Tampa Bay area and other parts of the U.S. within weeks. But some refugees that qualify under a new Humanitarian Parole designation could take longer to process.
All the while, groups like GCJFCS are working tirelessly behind the scenes, even before individuals or families arrive.
Sylvia Acevedo with Gulf Coast Jewish Family Community Services in Tampa said some Afghan refugees could be resettled in the Tampa Bay area and other parts of the U.S. within weeks. (Spectrum News image)
"We start working with folks before they have even gotten here,” Acevado said. “And once they are here we set-up living arrangements for them, we start providing intense case management services, all geared to self-sufficiency.
“Because all of these folks want to be helped, they had to flee, they had to come here, and so they want, as soon as possible, to be providing for their own families.”
GCJFCS says it has recently placed 6 evacuated Afghan's in the Tampa Bay community, and it will welcome a new family of four next week. The individuals and families need to have ties to the Tampa area through family, friendships or former military connections.
The group says it could accept as many as 75 families per year under its current government cap, as other groups settle more in the area under their own caps.
For more information on services, donating or volunteering with Gulf Coast Jewish Family Community Services, visit here: https://gulfcoastjewishfamilyandcommunityservices.org