By Priscilla Greear

Staff Writer

ATLANTA--Multicultural Services of Catholic Social Services, Inc. (CSS) is initiating its pilot Parish Refugee Support Project and seeks archdiocesan parishes to sponsor refugee families by helping them adjust to America and welcoming them into their communities.

The program to aid refugees, those who are unwilling or unable to return to their country because of persecution or fear of it, is sponsored by the U.S. Catholic and is being implemented nationally from January through June of this year. Georgia is one of the top 10 states in refugee resettlement.

The resettlement agency's project is a continuation of National Migration Month in January and was launched with a Day of Discipleship where participants visited with refugees and refugee service providers.

Amy Antoniades, Multicultural Services volunteer coordinator, said that the department hopes to continue the trial project following the initial six months and hopes that it serves as a model for parishes in initiating ongoing refugee support services. Another goal, she said, is to educate parishes on the circumstances of refugees, the support and resources CSS can provide and Bible teachings on the issue. No parish has yet sponsored a family.

Parishes may sponsor newly arriving refugees assigned through the project by providing financial support, picking them up at the airport, helping them find jobs and housing and applying for Social Security, offering emotional support and listening to them and including them in church life. "To have some kind of support outside our agency, it really makes a difference in their orientation and adjusting," said Antoniades. "We can accommodate any kind of parish involvement. It's just so important for families that come here with nothing."

Bob Kamack, a caseworker for Multicultural Services, said that he and other caseworkers "cannot give the refugee the type of attention they need. Some (refugees) are sponsored cases. We've got so many refugees coming in right now...A lot of our clients that are coming don't have any type of sponsor and they have to rely on us...If the church takes up one family that frees up caseworkers to take on our most needy clients."

"They (refugees) feel lost and a lot of times they feel abandoned. A lot of times they want to sit down and have someone talk to them," he said.

No archdiocesan churches have formal refugee outreach programs, which Kamack believes is because in the past they have lacked information on CSS's available services.

Parishes may also serve the refugees without sponsoring a family by activities such as making welcome packets with blankets, plates, dishes and other household items and by volunteering individually or as a church through Multicultural Services in English tutoring, translating, its Refugee Mental Health Project and other activities.

Barbara Lovatt, who serves Hispanic immigrants at St. Thomas Aquinas Church in Alpharetta and attended the Day of Discipleship, said non-Catholic churches in that area and Roswell are serving refugees and hopes Catholic churches will begin outreach programs like this. "I would like our parish to be more aware of what CSS is doing (with refugees)...just make people aware of what's happening and see if there's any way that our church might be able to assist."

St. Thomas Aquinas is currently giving $200 a month to Multicultural Services' Refugee Resettlement and Placement Program and Lovatt is requesting that the parish sponsor a family, making home visits, providing clothes and making an ongoing financial commitment.

"When you hear a story about a family's struggle, I think other families can identify with that and say, 'Yes, I'd like to help.'...I think anytime you can do things one to one you get to know a family and understand the situation. Anytime you have one to one (interaction) it works best," said Lovatt. "I think every parish has people in the parish who are immigrants and refugees. They just may not know it...I think the biggest challenge right now is making people aware."

Antoniades said the program is for all parishes, particularly those without racial diversity.

Antoniades and Komack will visit interested parishes and provide information on the project, refugees' families and available volunteer training programs and ongoing support for the implementation of programs.

Multicultural Services, established in 1975, serves refugees from Vietnam, Somalia, Cuba, Bosnia, Rwanda and other countries. According to a study from Georgia State University, 2,462 refugees arrived in Atlanta in 1996.

For information on the Parish Refugee Support Project, call Antoniades at (404) 881-6571, ext. 107.