WHITE PLAINS – For the second time this month, the Public Safety and Social Services Committee of the Westchester County Board of Legislators spent an entire hour-long meeting reviewing ways to acclimate a growing number of refugees in the county.
The committee invited several stakeholder organizations, including Hearts and Homes for Refugees and its founder, Kathie O’Callaghan of Pelham.
“How do we acclimate them?” she said. “What do we show them about our community? It’s not just important for them to arrive and have a soft landing but it’s important that they start to understand the culture and feel not just integrated but acclimated and become part of that fabric.”
O’Callaghan noted Pelham has been particularly welcoming by offering a variety of resources. Among them, with representatives at the meeting, were Catholic Charities, and a student refugee support club at Scarsdale High School.
The refugee outreach began when Catholic Charities referred a Syrian family of six.
One legislator asked why is anyone who has never lived in this country entitled to something. O’Callaghan said federal law mandates refugees must be accommodated.
