Shoulder to Shoulder (Afghan Refugee Fund

By Matt Shillingburg

We all witnessed the raw, emotional images coming out of Kabul, Afghanistan, this past summer with the noncombatant evacuation operations (NEO) of our Afghan allies and their families to overseas locations.

The evacuation images that America saw on television of Kabul, Afghanistan, were, for some, reminiscent to the NEO of the United States embassy in Saigon, Vietnam in April 1975 when the war in Vietnam ended.

If not evacuated, Vietnamese military and civilians that stood “Shoulder to Shoulder” with the US during the Vietnam War were in grave peril under the government of the Vietcong.

Now, 46 years after the Vietnam War, the United States, was conducting one of the largest and most difficult NEO missions in US History out of Kabul, Afghanistan of those that stood “Shoulder to Shoulder” with America during the War in Afghanistan.

Facing violence, the United States evacuated nearly 100,000 Afghan refugees, in a short amount of time as their county collapsed.

Military Bases overseas were the first to receive these refugees and began the initial screening process, where they received full background and security checks before being placed on aircraft to one of eight “Safe Haven” Camps located on Military Installations across the United States where they would receive health screening and complete their immigration processing.

From these safe havens, the Afghan families are being resettled in communities, like San Diego County, and across the United States. Nine resettlement agencies operating in the US are currently overwhelmed, as they resettle this huge influx of families. According to the resettlement agencies, there are approximately 2,200 scheduled to arrive here in San Diego County. It is estimated 1,700 have already arrived and the remainder will arrive as soon as the “Safe Haven” Camps close within the next several months.

San Diego County has formed an Afghan Refugee Resettlement Task Force to tackle the huge influx of Afghan Refugees in San Diego with four of the major resettlement agencies involved. Out of this task force, there are 3 working groups that have been formed; they are Social, Emotional, Cultural & Volunteer Coordination (SECV Coordination), Behavioral Health and Housing. Four resettlement agencies, here in San Diego, are overwhelmed, with only one case manager for, what is estimated to be 40 to 50 families. These Afghan families are currently being housed temporarily in hotels across the county far longer than desired.

There is an immediate need for assistance to welcome and integrate these families into the county of San Diego so that they can become productive, selfsufficient members of our community.

Social, Emotional, Cultural & Volunteer Coordination (SECV Coordination), a working group led by Dan Wilson and Matt Shillingburg are creating volunteer “Ambassador Circles” to stand “Shoulder to Shoulder” with these families and be a “Force Multiplier” to these volunteer and resettlement agencies. We need your support, your donations of time, money, or goods.

Here is how you can donate: Send a check made out to “Rotary District 5340” with “Afghan refugee fund” in the memo line to:

Rotary International District 5340

5052 Clairemont Drive #178 651 San Diego, CA 92177

Make an online donation at

www.sdwomensfoundation.org/donate-collab

Either way you choose, know that your charitable contribution will be used specifically for this collaborative effort to support our local Afghan refugees in San Diego County.

For more information contact Dan Wilson at danno808@gmail.com or Matt Shillingburg at matthewshillingburg@yahoo.com.