LAFAYETTE CHRISTIAN CHURCH

Growing Extended Family with Church World Service
 

Extended Family just staged a move for our first referral from Church World Service (CWS), the refugee assistance agency founded in 1946 by 17 Christian denominations to address refugee issues after WWII. On Friday, December 6, CWS will deliver the furniture and household goods our staging team is packing for an Afghan man who is arriving directly from a refugee camp in Germany. This client holds an SIV visa that that provides a path to legal permanent residency in the United States for Afghan nationals who were employed by the U.S. government in Afghanistan. Many SIV visa holders still remain in camps awaiting assistance.

A year ago, when CWS opened an office on Treat Blvd in Walnut Creek, we began exploring ways to partner when their refugee resettlement services were up and running. In September, the Extended Family Program Advisory Committee, Chaired by Kent Parr, voted unanimously to partner with CWS for assisting Afghan and Ukrainian refugees after completing our 2024 commitment to the International Rescue Committee (IRC). 

In recent months, Lyn Goodness, Lynda Justice, David Ward and I’ve worked with Jason Welle, the CWS Community Engagement Program Officer, and Hedy Abdou, the Resettlement Director, to rework our processes to enable serving their clients, many of whom are arriving from overseas on short time-frames. 

CWS will purchase all beds – our biggest expense – and assist with trucks as needed. We are thrilled to partner with this organization, supported by all three of the denominations who now contribute to the Extended Family Program: the Walnut Creek United Methodist Church, Lafayette Christian Church (Disciples of Christ) and the Lafayette-Orinda Presbyterian Church. This partnership will allow us to serve more families with the funds we raise locally. Watch for details as Extended Family establishes this important new collaboration. 

--Sheryl Ruzek