Local agencies prep for refugees
New Haven, Bridgeport could help resettle up to 1,000 over next year
Resettlement agencies in New Haven and Bridgeport are preparing on short notice to assist hundreds of refugees from Afghanistan in the coming days and weeks, and the number could rise to as many as 1,000 over the next year. The Afghan crisis could rival 2016 — when Connecticut helped more than 1,000 refugees from Syria — according to Chris George, the director of New Havenbased Integrated Refugee and Immigrant Services.
HARTFORD — Resettlement agencies in New Haven and Bridgeport are preparing on short notice to assist hundreds of refugees from Afghanistan in coming days and weeks.
“This is not going to be a routine refugee settlement,’’ said Chris George, the executive director of New Haven-based Integrated Refugee and Immigrant Services for the past 16 years. “This is more akin to emergency evacuation.’’
The number could rise to as much as 1,000 over the next year.
“We might not be able to provide all of the traditional services in a timely manner, but that’s OK because it’s better than living in Afghanistan and it’s better than being stuck on a military base in Texas,’’ George said Thursday.
The evacuations were disrupted Thursday when multiple explosions killed 12 American military members and wounded 15 others at the Kabul airport, the Pentagon said. So far, 104,000 Afghans and Americans have been evacuated by the United States and its allies since August 14, officials said. An estimated 1,000 Americans are still in Afghanistan as the country faces a deadline of August 31.
Around the nation, agencies are getting ready to resettle the huge numbers of refugees. In New Haven, George has been preparing by raising money for the nonprofit agency, hiring staff, recruiting more volunteers, and looking for housing for the refugees.
In their POST-COVID debut Thursday, people were running up to hug the three dogs in front of a ticketing counter.
Willie, a 2-year-old Australian Shepard with shaggy black, brown and white hair, sat smiling next to his 3-year-old buddy, Rambler, a brown long-haired German shepard. They wore matching blue vests that said “Please pet me.”
“I think what [we] like about the airport is that the employees seem to love meeting the dogs as much as the passengers do,” said Karyn Cordner, Rambler’s handler, alongside her friend Sally King, another volunteer handler. “We’ve had passengers who are traveling for sad reasons ask to be comforted by the dogs in tears. We believe in that human-animal bond and we see it every time we bring the dogs here.”
The program was paused over a year ago when the pandemic began. The airport hopes the dogs will again bring more comfort as air travel returns.
“We obviously have mandatory face masks and it’s not required for individuals to pet the dogs. However, if you do, there’s hand sanitizer available. We’re [also] encouraging dog handlers to keep social distancing in line as much
as possible,” Sisic said. “Therapy dogs are known to bring comfort and alleviate stress, so it’s a really nice way to send people off on their journey.”
The dogs don’t just work at the airport, but often make visits to local schools as reading buddies or nursing homes.
“We visited a nursing home and there was a lady in there who was blind. … Sally put her dog’s paw on [the woman’s] hand, and she looked around the room … then said to her family and us ‘I know
I’m dying and God has sent me an escort,’ “Cordner said. “That’s what these dogs do.”
Bright Spot Therapy Dogs, based in Massachusetts, began providing animal therapy in 2004. The organization services over 300 health care, educational and business environments around New England, said Cynthia Hinckley the group’s executive director and founder.