Northern Connecticut Family Working To Aid Afghan Refugees

ELLINGTON/ENFIELD/SUFFIELD, CT — Considerable unrest and discord in Afghanistan has prompted more than 74,000 Afghans to relocate into communities across the United States. Thousands more are still in need of safety, however, and a large family in northern Connecticut is doing its share to help by joining up with an organization called Sponsor Circles.

Over Thanksgiving dinner, Tammie and Matt Mangold of Ellington decided to start a Sponsor Circle with Matt's parents, Terry and Ed Mangold of Ellington; Tammie's parents, Bill and Janice Repass of Enfield; Tammie's sister and brother-in-law, Debbie and Anthony Goodman of Suffield; and Tammie's sister, Michelle Repass of Lakeville.

"We were all hearing about the tens of thousands of Afghans that escaped Afghanistan in August and were living on military bases waiting to be placed," Tammie Mangold told Patch. "Resettlement agencies were, and still are, working around the clock to find homes in communities with the necessary supports to help these families get on their feet in a new country."

The Biden administration announced the new program in late October, partnering with Community Sponsorship Hub. The program allows a group of at least five adults to form a sponsor circle. Background checks are conducted on each adult participating, and fundraising of $2,275 per refugee is required.

Once a group is approved, sponsor circles are responsible for helping refugees in their first 90 days in the U.S. They help secure housing, connect children to schools, introduce them to government benefits and help adults find jobs.

"We were told that families of five or six are difficult to place because affordable 3-bedroom housing is hard to come by," Mangold said. "Our group, which we named Open Arms Sponsor Circle, decided to set a goal of resettling a family of five. We set up a bank account and a GoFundMe page to raise the $11,375. We created a detailed welcome plan that outlines all of the supports that we would work to connect the family with upon their arrival. This includes registering kids for school, registering adults for ESL classes, enrolling in health insurance, connecting the family with appropriate health services, teaching them how to use public transportation and helping them find jobs."

The toughest part of the process was finding appropriate housing, according to Mangold.

"It is very difficult to secure housing before you know when exactly the family will arrive, but once you are matched things can move very quickly, so it was a balancing act," she explained. "We were incredibly lucky to connect with someone who is willing to rent a 3-bedroom house to us and has been very understanding of our timing situation. Given the size of the house, we said that we may even be able to accept a family of six, which raised our fundraising goal to $13,650. It is also possible that the agency says they have two families of three for us to place instead of one family of six, which would blow our whole housing arrangement out of the water. I'm really hoping that doesn't happen, but we have learned that flexibility is the name of the game with this whole process. We are willing to help with whatever the need is."

The group was able to apply and get certified once it reached 60 percent of its fundraising goal.

"We are now waiting to be matched with a family and begin the resettlement process," Mangold said. "We are expecting and hoping to be matched with a family next week. We are working now to collect household goods to turn the house into a home and get everything ready for their arrival."

Mangold said she and her family members have collected a great deal of items thus far, including furniture.

"We have gotten a lot of donations from family, friends, and the community through various Buy Nothing Groups. We set up a SignUpGenius to try to organize donations. We pretty much have all of the big furniture we need and are just working on collecting more of the smaller day-to-day things. Once we are matched with a family, we will know specifics about ages and sizes. We will request clothing and appropriate toys if there are children."