Brian's Family Homecoming

Friends and family, 

We have been so encouraged by the outpouring of support and kindness for our Afghan allies and friends. Please read more about Brian and his family below: 

On August 26th, just as a bomb went off at the Abbey Gate at the airfield in Kabul, Afghanistan an incredibly amazing extraction team made up of veterans and joint special operations personnel grabbed our friend "Brian" and his family of 6 (3 daughters-12, 15, 17 y/o and 2 sons -7, 13 y/o) from a gas station on the opposite end of the airport and brought them inside the airport gates to safety. After spending a harrowing 36 hours dodging (or bribing) T-ban checkpoints, showing up to rendezvous points that never materialized and navigating dangerous crowds of incredibly desperate people, Brian's family had escaped probable execution of Brian and, at best, a life of misery for his wife and children. Now, "Brian" and his family are on their way to the United States. Brian and his family were rescued through unconventional methods - people that just wanted to help any way they could. As Brian and his family are about to start their life together in the US we would love to keep this momentum going of Americans stepping up to help someone who stepped up to help our troops.

Trevor met Brian ("Brian" is the name given to him by the Marines) while deployed with his small team conducting counterinsurgency operations in Helmand Province. Brian served as Trevor's interpreter where he accompanied and assisted Trevor's team on over 80 combat patrols and countless meetings with village elders, local strongmen, etc. After serving with multiple Marine units in the most violent area of Afghanistan Brian fled the country in order to keep his family safe and work to eventually get them out of the country as well. He left Afghanistan by way of Iran (can we talk about insanity), escaped into Turkey, crossed the Mediterranean, and ended up in Germany where he waited for the US Government to process his "Special Immigrant Visa". Eventually Brian made his way to Houston where he started working to save money for immigation attorneys, family's visas and obtained his Green Card. 

Brian arrived in Afghanistan to retrieve his family just before the security situation started to deteriorate dramatically, trapping them in a country that was controlled by the T-ban. Over the month and a half he was there he drained his bank account (while he still had access to banks) in order to have enough money to bribe the T-ban. He returned to the US with about 65 dollars in his pocket. 

After spending a week traveling to the US and 3 weeks at Ft. Bliss, Brian and his family arrived to Houston in late September. With the help of incredible donations we were able to secure Brian's family a two bedroom apartment, as well as furnish it. With the funds raised we are hoping to cover rent expenses for at least 6 months while Brian gets training and secures a new job. We are also working to purchase a car that will accommodate a family of 7. 

Funds raised here will be used for the following:

- Rent + Utilities for at least 6 months (there is an agency covering rent for the first 3 months, we will take over payments once that assistance ends)

- Used van for transportation

- Groceries for at least 3 months

- Clothes for wife and children

- Initial household items, toiletries, etc

- Small reserve for emergencies and other expenses: car repairs, insurance, ect.

- Job hunting and training expenses (Brian wants to become a truck driver - message us with opportunities!)

* Funds will be used to provide the above over time and not distributed directly as cash

**If you would like your donation to go to a specific category; please note this at the time of donation