What can we in the U.S. do to help the Syrian refugees?

November 23, 2015 2:24 PM

I have friends in Canada who are sponsoring a family. As far as I know, there's no way to do that in the States. Are there other forms of direct aid we could provide?

Is it possible to directly sponsor a family? Or are there specific charities that are effective at resettling the displaced?

posted by airguitar2 to Human Relations (4 answers total)

Best answer: Perhaps you can get some ideas from this question.
posted by General Malaise at 2:29 PM on November 23, 2015 [1 favorite]

Best answer: The Office of Refugee Resettlement has a pretty good breakdown of services by state, and how you can help. There are other private charities out there, but these are all the officially government sanctioned services set up to officially deal with Resettlement.
posted by furnace.heart at 2:42 PM on November 23, 2015 [2 favorites]

Best answer: I stopped in a coffee shop in my town the other day and there were some big posters out from some local community service organizations working with these refugee groups in our city. One of the things they were looking people to volunteer for was teaching the refugees English. I am doing this. This is a huge help. In addition to the disorientation of being in an all new place very much unlike their homes, the inability to communicate about anything exacerbates the frustration greatly.
posted by a knot unknown at 6:21 PM on November 23, 2015 [1 favorite]

Best answer: The agencies working on the ground in the refugee camps in Turkey are critically short of funding and have recently had to cut daily calorie intake by 50%. In Lebanon some refugees have resorted to selling body parts to pay for their basic needs. The most important thing to do immediately is to donate to organizations on the ground like WFP, UNHCR and MSF. Secondly, please call your government representatives and express your support for an increase in refugee resettlement.
posted by mikek at 9:06 PM on November 23, 2015 [2 favorites]