What We Do
We settle asylum-seekers and refugees into our community by helping them meet their basic needs for housing, security, and community until they achieve independence. SHARe covers the cost of legal representation for asylum-seekers and locates resources for English language learning, employment and job training, educational opportunities, community connections, and understanding our cultures and laws. We do this work as volunteers who share a commitment to respecting their goals and decisions, and supporting their independence, resilience, and resourcefulness.
How to Help
As an all-volunteer organization working hard to ensure asylum seekers’ and refugees’ needs are met until they achieve independence, we would greatly appreciate volunteer help and your donation! Financial needs fall into several categories: Housing, Food, Clothing and Material Needs, Transportation, Legal and Medical Services, among others. If you are interested in learning more about how you can help, please reach out to us!
The Challenges
To seek asylum or settle in the United States under a refugee program is dependent on the efforts of citizens and nonprofit organizations to persuade government officials and the American people to live up to our humanitarian responsibilities.
Helping refugees make a home in their new community is largely left up to non-governmental organizations that receive inadequate government support. For asylum there is no government support at all.
Most crucially, there is no support for legal services for asylum seekers who must make claims for asylum within an adversarial system. Not surprisingly, asylum seekers with lawyers are twice as likely to win their asylum case.
Recent Activities
SHARe is currently providing support for several families and individuals from Asia, Africa, Central America and South America. We are advocating for the arrival of an extended Afghan family. We maintain close contact with the VTNH Asylum Seeker Support Network and the NH Host Home Network – a dozen nearby communities engaged in this same mission of hosting and supporting persons seeking asylum in America. At the same time, we are building the infrastructure of SHARe as an all-volunteer service providing organization. Visit our activities page for more information.
