WATERLOO, Iowa (KCRG) – Lutheran Services in Iowa’s Immigrant and Refugee Services works with new refugees for the first 90 days after they move here.
That includes paying for rent, helping them find jobs, getting kids enrolled in school, helping navigate the city, and more.
Lutheran Services in Iowa had just welcomed 191 people with refugee status into the state when the federal government put out a stop-work order on its services. That meant the nonprofit lost a huge chunk of its funding and no clear way to pay for the work it does.
Since January, though, the group said donors raised more than $60,000 for the nonprofit, and now, all the refugees the nonprofit’s worked with have gotten jobs.
Lutheran Services’ refugee services coordinator worries the cut in federal funding will make it harder for new refugees to settle into the country.
“Those moms and dads have to be wondering, how am I gonna feed my kids, how am I gonna navigate this city when I don’t even speak the same language. I don’t know the resources. Even going to the supermarket can be scary going by themselves,” said Erin Good.
Good said the nonprofit’s location in Waterloo expects to normally help around 150 refugees resettle in a year. Going forward, she said they won’t be able to resettle any new groups of refugees.
Erin Good says Lutheran Services in Iowa will still work to help refugees who are already in the community.
It’s also working to start an immigration legal services division in Waterloo.
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