SPOKANE, Wash. – World Relief Spokane is currently home to less than a dozen refugees from Afghanistan. However, in the coming months, they expect an influx of at least 300 more.
Director of Development Kevin Benson told KHQ World Relief was promised federal funding, but that it hasn’t arrived. He said they’ve been relying mainly on donations from the community.
“The need is far greater than the resources right now,” Benson said.
Outside of financial difficulties, Benson said the agency also wrestles with the phycological impacts refugees experience when uprooting their lives in such a short time.
“Quite literally, people may have been running for their lives before they were able to get to a place of safety and were able to get here,” Benson said.