By MATT PIKE
St. Joseph Post
Catholic Charites of Northeast Kansas has been assisting refugees from war-torn Afghanistan over the last few months.
Director of Refugee and Immigration Services Kasey Featherston says they were made aware of the situation in Afghanistan in July, seeing all the people that had been approved to come to the United States.
"Those families were scheduled to travel, and because things were deteriorating so quickly in Afghanistan, they just booked their own flights and just came to our office instead of going through the IOM, the International Organization for Migration, which normally does all the bookings for resettlement," Featherston tells KFEQ/St. Joseph Post.
In August, when more people started fleeing the country, Featherston says Catholic Charities then sent officials to safe havens to assist in welcoming refugees and relocating them.
Featherston says that some of the most pressing needs for any refugee, are the basic essentials that anyone needs to live
"I think the most pressing is making sure that people are housed, and making sure they have the food they need and culturally appropriate food that they are comfortable eating," Featherston says. "And then also attending to any medical needs, so we work with a local health clinic that's been doing a lot of the health screenings as families arrive."
Featherston adds that Catholic Charities is not only assisting refugees from Afghanistan, but from all over the world.
Catholic Charities also continues to serve refugees from Burma, now known as Mynmar, the Congo, as well as a variety of other countries.
Featherston says people may not be fully aware of what refugees have faced, but the Catholic Diocese works hard to educate the public about refugees and their plight
"The Arch Bishop has his platform, the Shepard's Voice, which he does interviews there," Featherston explains. "And then also, we as a team get out into the arch diocese, into the parishes, and not only do education but we get volunteers."
Featherston says the parishes play a big part in the refugee resettlement process, receiving lots of support from the parishes and the arch diocese.