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Building new lives

Nant Si and her husband and two young daughters are among those who now call Charlotte home, thanks to Catholic Charities and generous parishioners across the diocese who help fund the program. (Photo by Troy Hull)CHARLOTTE — After a five-year slowdown, Catholic Charities has seen a sharp increase in the number of refugees coming into the Diocese of Charlotte to build new lives after escaping conflicts around the world.

The agency resettled 290 refugees in fiscal year 2023, which ended Sept. 30, as families fled violence and persecution in countries including Congo, Myanmar and Syria.

That’s dramatically more than Catholic Charities has welcomed in the diocese since fiscal year 2017, when the agency resettled 306 refugees.

Program leaders expect to receive at least 375 refugees this fiscal year and say the higher numbers reflect a “new normal” for its Refugee Resettlement program. The figures do not include special U.S. evacuation efforts such as those from Afghanistan in 2021 and Ukraine in 2022 – which brought an additional 333 evacuees into the diocese.
Nant Si and her family are among those who now call Charlotte home, thanks to Catholic Charities and generous parishioners across the diocese who help fund the Refugee

Resettlement program.

“I love Charlotte because we now have freedom,” said Si, who arrived with her husband and two young daughters in December 2022. “We don’t have to deal with violence, with police asking us for bribes…and every week on Sundays we are free to go to church to worship God.”

Si and her husband separately fled violence in Myanmar years ago, after a new government began persecuting the country’s Christian minority. They met and married in refugee housing in Malaysia, where they waited years for a chance to get to the U.S. Now, they’re working, living and raising their 3- and 9-year-old girls in an east Charlotte apartment decorated with family photos and a wedding portrait taken at their Malaysian ceremony.

“It’s rewarding to know you’re helping people start a new life,” said Catholic Charities caseworker Conor McSweeney. “We’re also building communities within Charlotte where the refugees can find support and help from others from their home countries.”

Growing Refugee Numbers

Two girls spend time at a local roller rink during Catholic Charities’ “Refugee Summer Camp.” (Provided by Catholic Charities)The number of refugees seeking new homes and lives in the Charlotte diocese has varied widely, depending on the approach of the U.S. government, which each year sets a total number of refugees the country will accept. That number can be compounded by special evacuations at moments of international crisis – as it was after the U.S. withdrawal from Afghanistan and the Russian war on Ukraine.

Catholic Charities offices around the country work in partnership with the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops and the U.S. State Department to resettle refugees fleeing war, political upheaval, or religious, economic or ethnic persecution.

“Situations around the world change and affect the number of people we assist each year,” said Laura Townsend Jones, Catholic Charities’ assistant regional director for refugee services. “Sadly, the number of displaced people around the world has reached 100 million, and only one half of one percent of them eventually get a chance to be resettled in another country.”

The highest number of refugee arrivals in the past decade came in FY 2015-16, when Catholic Charities welcomed 440 people into the diocese. But that number declined sharply beginning in 2017 – hitting historic lows between 2019 and 2021 – due to changes in federal immigration policies and the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic.

The number of refugees rebounded in the most recent fiscal year and based on estimates from federal officials, Jones expects a “new normal” of hundreds of refugees – unless federal policy changes again. Resettling families in a new land is complicated by language and cultural barriers, refugees’ lack of resources and, in communities like Charlotte, a severe shortage of affordable housing.

In addition to resettlement services, Catholic Charities continues to provide assistance in a variety of ways for another 300 to 400 refugees for up to five years, including continued case management, employment assistance and youth services.

Easing the Transition

A young boy enjoys swimming at the “Refugee Summer Camp,” an annual event organized by Catholic Charities. (Photo provided by Catholic Charities)People who make it to the U.S. for resettlement go through a lengthy application process and often wait for years in crowded refugee camps in other countries. Catholic Charities is notified of impending newcomers about two weeks before they arrive. Finding affordable rental housing is the biggest challenge, Jones said, particularly in Charlotte and Asheville, where Catholic Charities has a second regional office and offers a full slate of resettlement services.. Language barriers and refugee families’ lack of a credit rating add to the struggle.

“We’ve built strong relationships with landlords around the area to try to find apartments, but in many cases we’re having to look further outside Charlotte to find them,” she said.

Many of the newest arrivals to the area, including Si and her family, are settled in apartment complexes in “ring communities” outside of Charlotte, Jones said.

Refugees often arrive with few possessions, so the new housing is furnished by a group called Homemakers of Mercy that works with Catholic Charities. Volunteers from several parishes around the Charlotte area – including St. Gabriel and St. Matthew – collect donations of new or gently used furniture and other items, then set up the apartments in advance so families will have a ready home.

Catholic Charities also offers employment services and youth programs for refugee families, as well as help enrolling in English classes and teaching families about life in North Carolina, including such skills as how to ride public transportation.

The goal is for new families to find work within 30 to 60 days of their arrival, and a swift transition to self-sufficiency. Si’s husband, Chung Thang, landed a job at a local Chinese restaurant and eventually was able to get a car after several months of struggling to find rides to work.

Si and her husband said they are grateful for the work of Catholic Charities, which has provided stability and hope. Si is working online toward her GED and dreams of going to college to study accounting. Her oldest daughter, Miracle, likes her elementary school classes and has made friends with children from other countries who live in their apartment complex.

“I am so thankful for the things we are able to do now, and I’m hoping God will give me a chance to go on with school,” she said. “I am so happy that Catholic Charities was able to help us come to Charlotte.”

— Christina Lee Knauss

Want to help?

At www.ccdoc.org: Go online to donate, volunteer or learn more about Catholic Charities Diocese of Charlotte’s resettlement program, or call 704-370-3251.