Welcome the Daniel Family

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On behalf of the core team of volunteers for the relocation and resettlement of the Daniel family, we thank you for the ways you have gotten involved or will get involved in supporting this Congolese family of seven! The hard (and quick!) work of securing donations, household items and then finally getting their home cleaned and situated is done.

The Daniel family arrived at the Lancaster Airport last Thursday evening around 7pm. Now the process of helping the family acclimate to a new culture, build relationships and establish a community life is upon us… and we need your help!

The family met with their case manager, Charlotte, from Bethany Refugee Services last Friday. On Sunday, they were transported to the 11am service. My family, Matt & Christine Miller and Zippy & Joel Ngarama joined them for lunch. Through the translation of Joel, we learned that they were surprised that no one came to visit them in the prior 2 days. We realized that in their culture an open door and regular visitors is how they do life. I felt burdened by the fact that they are looking to connect with people (as best as you can through google translate.

This week the family had medical appointments and got set up with various assistance programs. Tomorrow they will get registered and assessed for their English language program. We intend to take the family to a clothing bank at Landisville Mennonite Church on Friday.

On behalf of the core team of volunteers, we ask that you consider how you can support this family. We need help with transportation to church, transportation to youth group for Bienvenu, social outings or meals with the family, conversation for language practice, training on how to use the bus system, childcare for language classes, etc. We created a document that lists the specific needs. Please consider how you can get involved. Many CFCers have helped out in various ways already (thank you again!). A few of us have engaged with the family several times already this week and we have been anticipating sharing this specific list of needs, as we are fully aware that this family cannot be supported by just the same few people. We are hoping and trusting our team will expand so we can all get to know and support this family better!

Alanna Hurst (the team leader) has already communicated the following 2 immediate needs to those on the team. We need a volunteer for tomorrow afternoon (Thursday, Oct 5) to provide childcare while the parents go to sign up for ESL classes. It would be from approximately 2:30pm- 5:30pm. This would be a great way to connect with the kids and it would be great if someone would take them to the grocery store and show them how the food stamp card works. (It could be the same person that provides childcare, or another volunteer.)

The family should also be receiving their food stamp card by tomorrow. The document linked at the bottom of this post will be updated on a regular basis to reflect the relational opportunities with the family.

The VOLUNTEER SCHEDULE tab will reflect the most specific needs. We intend to meet as a support team this weekend for a follow-up meeting. If you’ve missed the initial training and want to get connected this would be a great opportunity to do so! Sunday, October 8th at 9am at CFC.

Volunteer Sign-Up