2022 has been an exciting and extremely active year for SHARe both celebrating new milestones and greatly expanding our work:
- We celebrated the final granting of asylum to a man from Africa that we have worked with for several years! He is now fully independent.
- An Asian family of four has now achieved almost complete financial independence while we continue to support their integration into the community and quest for asylum.
- We provided support to a woman from Africa as she pursues health care education and work while raising her children.
- In recent months we rose to the occasion to arange housing, clothing, transportation, translation, health services, and dedicated support teams for new arrivals from Latin America including both an individual and a woman with three children.
- We combined efforts with other groups to assist new arrivals from Afganistan and a South American couple.
- We continue to advocate for the Afghan family of 10 that is stranded in Poland. As hard as it is to wait for them, we can only imagine what the long wait is like for them. When they do arrive, it will be on very short notice! Meanwhile an enthusiastic volunteer is providing English lessons over zoom.
- We are also awaiting an Afghan family of 8 and another of 5 that could arrive anytime.
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.
Matching Gift Campaign!
SHARe is requesting your financial support for our mission to welcome and support asylum seekers and refugees into our community, and assist them on their path to a life that is free of persecution, violence, poverty and hunger.
Monthly donations are being doubly matched! Two anonymous donors have pledged a total of $25,000 to match all recurring (monthly) donations for the first 12 months. Any increase in an existing recurring donation will also be matched. For example, a monthly donation of $50 per month for twelve months will be matched by an additional $50 for a total donation of $1,200. Our online donation platform will allow you to set up an automatic monthly donation as well as one-time donations.
The offer of matching funds is in memory of Rudy Eiland:
Rudy Eiland, born in Hungary around 1880, immigrated to the United States in the early 1900’s. After the Nazis rose to power, he rescued approximately a dozen Jewish families from Europe and helped them settle in a tiny rural American town. Although Rudy Eiland himself and the rescued families were the first Jews the townspeople had ever known, the town welcomed them warmly and the small Jewish community thrived.
Rudy Eiland’s effort to rescue these families and the town’s warm reception epitomize the goals of SHARe as we welcome refugees to the Upper Valley.
“…our family received great help for mental health support, school, transportation, financial, housing that allowed us to raise our premature baby…our family will never be able to repay the kindness, the help and warm welcome we received…”
“l was extremely fortunate to have support in my life at a time when l was stranded and l did not have anyone to call on… support was there for me, from day one, they took my rent bill and immediately paid for it…”
Please go to our website at www.sharevtnh.org to set up your monthly donation. One-time donations may be made by check to SHARe, P.O. Box 264, Norwich, Vermont 05055-0264 or online at our website. Donations to SHARe are tax-deductible.
Thank you for your support!
Sincerely,
Nick Krembs
Carolyn Gordon
Dean Seibert
Peter Haubrich
Bill Ploog
SHARe Board of Directors