Catholic Charities, CAIR OK Welcome Final Afghan Refugee Family To OKC 

From a warm welcome to putting down roots, Catholic Charities and CAIR OK have welcomed their final Afghan refugee family. 

Oklahoma City now has 1,000 refugees, and both organizations are getting them into permanent housing and finding employment. 

“They are incredibly grateful for the welcome they have received in Oklahoma. They also have concerns, fears, frustrations that any parent would have for their kids moving to a new place,” said Jen Hund, with CAIR Oklahoma. 

“It’s a huge milestone for us we are really excited, but this is really just the initial phase of resettling these refugees,” said Carly Akard, the Director of Communications with Catholic Charities. 

Catholic Charities now rolling up their sleeves and moving families into permanent housing. 

“We have a housing navigator who essentially will try and find a place that will house that size of family, that’s on that side of town near their employment, there is a few different pieces that go together in finding them a place to get settled in,” said Akard. 

The process takes an average of 30 days from when they land at the airport. 

“We have not had to furnish a single home because people in Oklahoma City have stepped up and said we are going to help furnish these homes and help resettle them with you,” she said.  

Both organizations help with employment, ESL (English as a Second Language) classes and cultural orientation. 

“We have a strong connection with the Muslim business community in Oklahoma City and across Oklahoma we can provide that connection between employers and employees,” said Hund. 

Both organizations are looking for volunteers to help move refugees into their homes.