Nonprofit group prepares homes for influx of Afghan refugees

WASHINGTON — Tens of thousands of Afghan refugees are in the process of getting settled in the U.S. and nonprofit groups are stepping up to do their part to help the families and individuals once they arrive.

The group ‘Homes Not Borders,’ based in Maryland outside of Washington D.C., has been collecting donations of household items.

Volunteers have been sorting and setting up everything from furniture to dishes in a Maryland warehouse.

“With the surge of SIVs from Afghanistan and refugees from Afghanistan, we’ve gotten quite a lot of response,” said Laura Osuri, Executive Director and Founder of Homes Not Borders.

Osuri said since the U.S. military withdrawal in Afghanistan, the group has helped set up an average of six apartments a week for Afghan refugees while partnering with other nonprofits.

“It’s all there and they have a place they can go back to and call home, you know in this kind of scary new world,” said Osuri. “That’s what I really think the focus needs to be on, providing that support,” said Osuri.

President Biden has called on Congress to pass $6.4 billion to help pay for the relocation of Afghan refugees.

There are eight military bases serving as temporary housing sites around the country.

There were at least four cases of the measles detected among Afghan refugees at the processing sites and that led to a temporary pause in flights of Afghan evacuees coming to the U.S.

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