In October 2021, the North Church Session approved appropriating $3,000 to sponsor a family of Afghan evacuees through Journey’s End Refugee Services. The Deacons began collecting donations of furniture and household items in good condition as well as monetary donations to fill in any additional items and stock the kitchen pantry.  Due to the limited availability of affordable rental property, it took a while for a family to be assigned to North Church.

Our Afghan Family has arrived!

We were finally been assigned an Afghan family of four:  two adults, a boy aged 4, and girl aged 5.

An apartment was set up on Saturday, June 25, 2022 with the help of some very hard workers and some lovely donations. The apartment, located near the Cheektowaga Town Park, felt bright and cheery when the set up was complete. The pantry was also stocked, with the shopping help from our volunteers. This included some fresh goods from the Afghan bakery. The unused Afghan Family Funds collected will likely be used as additional rent support for the family. The family was expected to move into their new space as soon as June 30^th.

Thank you for all your support to make this project a success. The staff at Journey’s End were very appreciative.

Our volunteers:

Our ministry to refugees includes:

• We oppose the 2017 order banning refugees’ entry into U.S. Learn more.
• Advocacy and Interaction
  • #GreaterAs1 is a global homebase for refugee solidarity: presents information on refugee rights, shareable graphics, and additional information for refugees.
  • Interfaith Immigration Coalition: Follow news coverage on refugees and get connected with organizations.
  • Refugee Council USA’s (RCUSA) Toolkit: Advocacy resources, sample letters, and much more to inform visits with government leaders
  • RCUSA FAQs on the Executive Order
• In Fall 2016, North Church helped settle a family from Eritrea.
• Organizations We Support
  • Music in Exile is traveling the world to record the songs and stories of people displaced by war and violence.
  • Journey’s End which assists families approved for permanent resettlement in the US. In the past two decades we have helped Vietnamese, Cambodian, Ethiopian, Ukrainian, Russian-Armenian, and Bosnian refugees.
  • Catholic Charities Refugee Program which has been working with refugees locally since 1923, providing non-sectarian services including immigration assistance, ESL classes and employment counseling.
  • Jericho Road Community Health Center provides full spectrum medical care to all who need it – especially the medically underserved, including many refugees and immigrants.
  • Stitch Buffalo welcomes all kinds of help. We always need donations and are actively seeking volunteers to help with running classes, retail sales, class preparation, and much more. If you’d like to be a part of Stitch Buffalo, contact us  and tell us a little more about your interests and talents. We’d love to hear from you!