What do I do to house a Syrian refugee family in my home?

I would start by contacting the International Rescue Committee which is one of the most responsible organizations supporting refugees in the world. On their page is a link to a NY Times article on what the US can do. Not sure if the article deals with housing individual families but the organization should be able to give you some leads.

Another possibility is to contact local churches that you respect or belong to and see if they are conducting any resettlement programs.

I’ll ask my aunt if she has any connections. She’s in Germany and has been helping Syrians relocating every day since they started coming there. She probably knows someone who knows. I’ll get back to you this evening.

My advice would be to contact the Red Cross//Red Crescent and possibly your local mosque. They will at least be able to tell you whom to contact.

Please let us know how you go @filmfann. I don’t know how you’d organise this, but I’m pleased that you are and it’s something I’d be happy to do too.

I’m guessing that your hosted family won’t speak English, and that you don’t speak Arabic (or any of languages of Syria). Have you found a charitable group that will provide an interpreter?

I think you’re wonderful.

I called the IRC, and they said I live too far away from any of their offices. Apparently, the refugees need to visit their office once a week for the first 90 days for english lessons, counseling, and financial aid. They also don’t like to house refugees in occupied homes, which seems odd to me. So, I will need to help in other ways. My wife will probably be relieved, but I thought this might be a good way to be the person I want to be.

@filmfann You know, there are refugees from places other than Syria who need a place to live. Conflicts in other parts of the world didn’t stop because Syria is having a crisis. There are also refugees from abusive relationships right in your own community who could use a place to shelter. And there are refugees from capitalism sleeping by the thousands under bridges and in homeless shelters.

I’m wondering what the logic is of not wanting people to house refugees in occupied homes.

@jca

I’m just guessing here but I think the concern would be liability. Presumably, the sponsoring group bears responsibility for the refugees whom they are providing support for?

I would imagine that any large group of fairly unvetted people could contain those with criminal tendencies. Certainly not most of them but just because someone is fleeing a war torn area doesn’t necessarily guarantee that they would be honorable.

I also read somewhere that ISIS is boasting about inserting some of their people into these groups to infiltrate the U. S. Perhaps an idle boast, perhaps not. Who knows ?

But, as I said, just a guess.

I was thinking that maybe by living in a home, it might give them some kind of legal rights to not have to leave the home, and thus cause problems for the host and for the agencies.

@jca

That’s also another possibility. Something like that made national headlines. I remember the case of the nanny that a family hired and how much of a headache it was for them to evict her after things didn’t work out. She just refused to leave.

They couldn’t change the locks or remove any of her stuff without incurring legal penalties themselves and they had to resort to padlocking their refrigerator.

It sounds almost comical but was anything but. What a mess.

@Buttonstc: I remember that. I think it was in NYC.

I was told the Red Cross would be the best bet. Sorry, my aunt knew nothing of American activities except that Americans were more focused on making permanent arrangements and the Germans were focused on temporary ones.