Help Refugee Families Stay in Their Homes

Help Refugee Families Stay in Their Homes

Housing is perhaps the biggest challenge faced by refugee families, who give up everything to leave dangerous, war-ravaged countries and start a new life from scratch.

Newcomers Access Center (NAC), a Claremont, California, nonprofit that helps refugee families in the community become independent, is helping with rent subsidies. We need your support. Meet three of several families that NAC is helping.



Iuliia B. left war-torn Ukraine with her mom and daughter and came to the US last year. Her husband remains in Ukraine caring for his parents who are too ill to travel. NAC secured temporary housing at reduced rent at a local college in Claremont. When that housing came to an end after a few months, Iuliia moved to a small market-rate apartment in San Fernando Valley, close to where her sister’s family lives. She expected to stay for six months and to return to Ukraine this summer. Iuliia says, “I just want to go home.” Sadly, war has now engulfed her hometown, making it unsafe to return. In Ukraine, Iuliia earned a Master’s degree in finance and banking and had a career. Here in the U.S., she struggles to get by working at a minimum-wage retail job.

A Ukrainian family with their young son were out of the country when Russia invaded Ukraine. Rather than return to a war zone, they fled to Norway and then to the U.S. NAC set them up with low-cost temporary housing in Claremont. After that, the family moved to a small apartment in L.A., closer to the father's warehouse job and to the film industry, a field he has experience in and hopes to return to. His wife has a degree in electrical engineering, hopes to re-enter the workforce in the future as well, but for now she is caring for their son and their new baby daughter. Making ends meet is tough. As they move forward in an unexpected direction, this displaced family is grateful for its safety and the support it has received. They lament the ongoing casualties and destruction back home and the constant threat faced by friends and family.

The H. family fled Afghanistan soon after the Taliban took over in August 2021. Masoud had worked for the US Army. He refused to speak English until he left his country for fear someone would hear him then the Taliban would arrest him and his family. NAC helped Masoud and his wife and their two preschool-age sons move into a small apartment in Rancho Cucamonga. He and his wife both are enrolled in ESL classes at Chaffey College. Masoud now works in a suit shop, but his earnings are not sufficient to pay rent and the costs of supporting his family, which now includes a new baby daughter.

Many refugees left behind good-paying jobs, and now face obstacles such as education and credentials that do not transfer, English that is not proficient, and professional networks lost. Pharmacists, IT specialists, finance managers, social workers, doctors, salespeople, teachers and more take minimum wage jobs to keep their families housed. It can take years for newcomers to build back their careers.

While they work to start over, will you donate for them to remain in their moderately-priced apartments? Some families have multiple people in a one-bedroom unit. As a small nonprofit with the mission of helping newcomers, NAC connects families with the resources they need to become independent. Our volunteers help with job hunting, tutoring English, enrolling kids in school, applying for benefits, getting a driver’s license, and so much more. Providing rent subsidies is one of our biggest expenses, and we need your contribution. NAC is a 501 (c)(3) nonprofit organization. Your donation may be tax deductible. Thank you for helping Newcomers Access Center's families.

• Make out a check payable to Newcomers Access Center (put your email on the check please) and mail it to NAC below:

Newcomers Access Center

233 Harrison Avenue Suite B5

Claremont CA 91711

• Use this Go Fund Me (GFM) link to make a donation via credit or debit card. Go Fund Me securely encrypts and handles your transactions.

Please share this campaign. Thank you for your support.

To learn more about Newcomers Access Center, please visit https://newcomersaccesscenter.org. You can also watch a 3-minute video on Youtube.