Detroit Archdiocese helps Iraqi refugees build new lives in U.S.

Published: 2007-09-20

DETROIT (CNS) -- Escaping persecution in their home country, many Iraqi refugees are finding a new home in the metro Detroit area with the help of the Archdiocese of Detroit as well as other agencies. The refugees, many of them Chaldean Catholics, started arriving in the metro area earlier this summer, with the archdiocese helping to settle 11 people from six families in July, said Tu Ho, the archdiocesan refugee services coordinator. In August, the archdiocese helped to settle 110 people. In September, the archdiocese helped 100 more. The people who receive assistance through the archdiocese receive money for groceries, household items and hygiene kits, as well as a new mattress. The archdiocese has spent $10,000 on mattresses already, Ho said. For what the archdiocese cannot provide, the family is often referred to the Society of St. Vincent de Paul. "We really need a lot of help from the people in the parishes," Ho told The Michigan Catholic, Detroit's archdiocesan newspaper.

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