Can you join us in supporting two young Syrian families who urgently want to leave the refugee camp in Jordan and immigrate to join their extended family living in Western Massachusetts?

We are a group in Shelburne Falls called the Rimeh Family Welcome Committee, working together to support these two families, which include two brothers, their wives and six children. We are fundraising for this project through the Welcome Corps program launched by the US Department of State in 2023 designed to strengthen communities. Members of the Rimeh Family Welcome Committee's Fundraising Committee include Jackie Walsh (Coordinator), Janice Waldron-Hansen, Lynn Benander, Lynne Pledger, and Cindy Snow.

In order to begin the process, we are raising $30,000 (the $24,600 required by Welcome Corp required to ensure both families have adequate support to become settled and self-sufficient within their first 90 days plus another $5,400 to help them purchase a vehicle to get to work once they find employment). The money will cover costs for their first 90 days including housing, furniture, transportation, ESL education, assistance in finding employment, and their basic needs (food, clothing, etc.) as these 2 families settle into Western Massachusetts.

We want to raise these funds as soon as possible so that we can get as much of the immigration paperwork completed as we can before Jan 20, 2025. Can you help?

Do you know of any low-cost 4 to 6-bedroom home or two 2-3 bedroom homes in or near Shelburne Falls that will be available in late winter/early spring?

Are there other ways you might be able to help? Send us an email!

Thank you in advance for any support you can provide.

If one or both families are unable to come, we will use these funds to support another immigrant family to settle here in Western Massachusetts.

Thank you!

All the best,

Jackie Walsh - shelburnejackieb@gmail.com - and

Lynn Benander - lbenander@gmail.com

PS Please pass this invitation along to others who might want to help!

This campaign is unpublished.