When Yar Mohammad and his family heard about the incoming winter storm, they stocked up on food and blankets. They moved from Afghanistan to Nashville in 2024 and had only dealt with snow, not the severe ice that blanketed the city for days even after the storm passed.
“It was very difficult for us,” Mohammad said. “We’ve never faced weather like this.”
Mohammad, his wife and three children spent three days without power. They slept together wrapped in blankets on their living room floor to try to stay warm, and tried to get by eating toast and beans.
Soon, his children started coughing and his wife suffered from back pain. The temperature in their home dropped to 26 degrees.
While the recent winter storm impacted all of Nashville, refugee families faced even greater difficulties. Advocates said language barriers, limited access to resources and lack of familiarity with cold weather left many in danger and underprepared for the storm that arrived.
Through Refugees Care Network, founder Saleem Tahiri helps 1,250 refugee families across Nashville get the assistance they need once they resettle here. Before the storm, he sent out messages on WhatsApp telling families which items to purchase and how much food to stock up on.
But the storm brought more damage than expected. At least 10 of the families he works with were without power for multiple days. Those living on Dickerson Pike and Nolensville Pike were affected the most, he said.
Tahiri told the Banner the biggest challenge his clients faced was that they were unprepared for the inclement weather and didn’t know their power would go out.
“Most [families are from] the provinces where there is none or little snow in Afghanistan,” he said. “This is something new for them. They couldn’t even drive.”
Despite the challenges, members of the community were able to help each other. Families with power prepared warm food for those without, and Tahiri and a handful of volunteers delivered it. One delivered portable gas stoves to two families so they could cook.
Stretching paychecks to the limit
Even after getting power back, Tahiri said 70 percent of the families he works with were financially impacted by the storm. Many had to go without pay because of the conditions, all while still financially supporting family back in Afghanistan.
“Most of the people, they’re living paycheck to paycheck,” he said. “The people with good pay probably know they would have some savings to use, but these single guys who have families in Afghanistan, they don’t save their money because when [they’re paid,] they send it home because of their children.”
Kara Stywall, the Community Engagement Manager at Nashville International Center for Empowerment (NICE), another local organization that provides resources for immigrants and refugees, said many of NICE’s clients were out of work for up to two weeks, because they work in landscaping and construction. If the power went out at their construction site, many were sent home early.
Many have struggled to pay for rent as they try to make up for lost income, she said, and they’ve seen a large decrease in adult education classes, either because of the power outages or they are picking up extra shifts, and instructors have been rescheduling their classes so they can do the same.
Nazima Noorestani, a maternal health worker at NICE, provided warmth and food to a few dozen neighbors during the storm, which was no small undertaking — like many refugees, she also lives paycheck to paycheck. She had to use a lot of pantry items, like beans and rice, to make enough food for everyone. The last of the neighbors she helped were without power until Feb. 9.
“It affected a little bit of my economy,” she said. “Even after we got electricity, I have struggled a bit because I have to wait for my paycheck to come and then I buy food [to replenish what I had].”
Earlier during the week after the storm, an immigrant health coalition NICE works with closely shared that there were a few hospitalizations related to carbon monoxide poisoning from people who weren’t native English speakers. So, advocates at NICE worked quickly to send out information and how their clients can recover the food they lost from the power outages. It was a challenge because their office didn’t have internet and a lot of members on the team were also displaced and without power.
“We’re always managing both our own needs within our team as well as trying to make sure that we’re having a coordinated effort to be able to get that information to our clients,” Stywall said.
Recovering from the storm may take longer for refugee families, Stywall said. That’s why NICE is urging community members to donate to the organization’s housing assistance fund and to contact NICE about donating gift cards for groceries and other necessities.
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