BUFFALO, N.Y. (WKBW) — Volunteers from Journey's End Refugee Services recently prepared a house in Buffalo for a refugee family from Afghanistan.
The family arrived in Buffalo just as the Trump administration shut down the U.S. refugee resettlement program.
About 20 members of the Notre Dame Alumni Club and the Nativity of the Blessed Virgin Mary Church's Refugee Immigrant Migration Ministry team volunteered for the effort, collecting furniture and household goods, cleaning the house and getting it set up.
"We're establishing a cozy welcoming home for this family," said Jack Leo, a volunteer involved in the project.
"The beauty of the whole thing is when we're done, the house looks just like a home that anybody would want to live in," added Tim Gelder, another volunteer.
Cheryl Palmer, also a volunteer, said: "It looks like a completely different place by the time all these good people have done their work around here."
Volunteers expressed mixed emotions about the situation, as the family is among the last to arrive before the program's closure.
"It's bittersweet because it's stopping, and we're not going to be able to do it for a while," said Cheryl Gelder.
"I just cannot believe that this is coming to an end," expressed Fiona Schaeffer, highlighting the uncertainty of future resettlement efforts.
Journey's End is part of the Refugee Partnership which recently announced a $1.5 million crisis response fund to help refugee resettlement organizations in Buffalo. Several have announced layoffs in the last couple of weeks due to cuts and pauses by the Trump Administration.
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