NEW PALTZ – A seven-member family who fled to the United States from Afghanistan has arrived in the New Paltz area and is awaiting resettlement.
The family fled their home country after the Taliban took over control following the departure of the American military. The family had been staying at a military base in the Midwest.
Their arrival in Ulster County comes just four weeks after the New Paltz for Refuges organization formed and held its first virtual meeting. The group is a grassroots, volunteer, nonprofit working with other agencies to resettle those who have fled Afghanistan.
The family, whose names are being withheld due to safety concerns of family members left behind, fled the country with nothing but the clothes on their backs.
They need money for housing, food, clothes, transportation and other necessities as well as jobs.
The group said although the family received a stipend, they said it is not enough to sustain them.
The family consists of the mother, father and five children – four boys and a girl – ranging in age from a toddler to teenagers.
New Paltz for Refugees has raised over $26,000 and is asking the community’s support to further help the family. To learn more about the families and how to donate, log onto https://www.newpaltz4refugees.org.
New Paltz for Refugees has partnered with Christ the King and the Jewish Congregation of New Paltz to move Afghan families to the area.
The father of the New Paltz family said they were lucky, noting he was “able to manage my escape with my immediate family from Kabul Airport in a U.S. military Plane to Qatar soon after Taliban took over Kabul.” He said he “risked my entire family and my own life as we raced to get to a gate at Kabul Airport. It was just like a movie, a terrifying movie that you don’t want to be in.”
