Journey's End Home Again Refugee Program
Before COVID-19, PCUMC participated in the Home Again Program. This program provides refugee families with a clean, welcoming, well-furnished “home.” This is a great way for our church to make a lasting difference in the lives of a newly arrived refugee family. We feel it is God’s calling to participate in this program again based on recent events.
This program works by the people of PCUMC gathering household items to furnish an apartment. Once we have collected the needed items, they will give us a set-up date. We will need a cleaning crew, moving crew, and set-up crew on that date. Apartment set-ups usually take between 4-5 hours to complete. If you are interested in donating a few hours of your time, please let one of the people in charge know.
If you have gently used, clean furniture, kitchen supplies, bedding, sheets, towels, curtains, or curtain rods you are thinking of getting rid of, please consider these for this program.
Additionally, we will be collecting bathroom supplies and toiletries (shampoo, soap, toothpaste, cleaning products, etc.) that are new and in original packaging.
Please watch for the sign-up sheets in the back of the sanctuary or sign-up online if you are able to donate or purchase any of the needed items. The Home Again rule is: “If you wouldn’t want it or don’t know how to use it, neither will a refugee family.”
If you cannot participate by purchasing items or assisting on moving-in day, please consider donating a Wegmans, Tops, Walmart, or Target gift card, or a financial contribution. These may be used to help leverage the very modest lump sum of money refugees are given upon arrival. Gift cards and monetary donations will be given directly to the family to purchase needed clothing, pay bills, rent, or other necessary expenses.
If you have any questions, please feel free to contact:
Elizabeth Valentine, Liz Fisher, DJ Mahar
Thank you in advance for doing this volunteer program to provide refugees with a soft landing in our great city!
