American Humanist Association (Humanist Chaplaincy At American Uni)

We're Humanists Helping Refugees - Silver Spring, MD, a Sponsor Circle group organized to help Afghan refugees, and we were matched with a family of 8, 7 of whom just arrived 3/1/25 here in our neighborhood. We are now raising funds to help them pay their rent until the 4 old enough to work are employed, and to help with money for food, work and school clothes, health expenses until they're insured, etc. Please help if you can. Thank you all!!

When the Taliban retook power as the US military withdrew, several progressive Afghans reached out to us when they search online and learned of our Humanist advocacy and aid for refugees, asylees, and immigrants. We helped some Afghans escape to Pakistan, where many are still hiding from Taliban allies and are not safe. We had earlier helped other refugees from several countries, many of whom are students, human rights activists, lawyers, and journalists, so we have learned a lot about how to aid refugees.

While Trump suspended most refugee resettlement programs and funding, we're still able for the moment to help Afghans and Iraqis holding Special Immigrant Visas (SIVs), who supported the US missions in their countries and faced persecution as a result. These visas allow them to be admitted to the US with permanent residency, typically using the same infrastructure for refugees accepted for resettlement. While SIV-holders can still travel here at present, federal funds to aid them have been suspended. So we're reaching out to generous folks like you to help the family we were assigned to welcome and help.

I'm Ben - Binyamin Biber - founder of the Humanist Chaplaincy at American University in DC, and my colleague there, Humanist Chaplain Miranda Hovemeyer (also a neighbor and friend), is working with me to coordinate our Sponsor Circle with the help of Resettlement Action DC (REACT DC), Welcome.US, and the Community Sponsorship Hub to help this family who just arrived to start their lives here. We are joined by our spouses, and my 96 year old father who is a US Army veteran, which allowed us to receive $7000 from the Veterans Sponsorship Fund to help this family.

Please donate whatever you can afford to support our efforts and those of our partner refugee aid groups, like those mentioned above!

Please also let us know if you might be able to help in any other way. Material donations are welcome. Dari speakers could also assist the family in learning English and navigating various specifics like enrollment of the kids in school, and applications for Medicaid, SNAP, etc.

Funds raised through this effort will go into a special refugee aid and advocacy account of the Chaplaincy, and be used exclusively to aid this specific family with their initial housing and living expenses the first three months after they arrive here in our area. We also help other refugees, and keep track of funds to ensure that funds raised for specific individuals or families are spent to assist them. You can learn more about the Chaplaincy on our Facebook and Instagram pages, as well as on our two other refugee aid pages here on GoFundMe.

Thanks so much for giving what you can, asking friends to do likewise, and reaching out if you can help in any other way!