A New Life for Muiz and His Family (Team Muiz)

We are a group of Westchester County residents who have formed a private sponsorship group to welcome a refugee family of 4 from Afghanistan. The family will be sponsored through the Welcome Corps program, and with the support of the local nonprofit Hearts & Homes for Refugees.

We have identified the family we wish to sponsor because of their urgent need. From January 2016 to August 2018, the mother, Fatima*, was an interpreter for the U.S. Army in Afghanistan.

In 2020, her young son Muiz was born with hypoxic ischemic encephalopathy (lack of oxygen to the brain during birth), resulting in cerebral palsy. He suffers from rigidity, joint stiffness, and cannot sit, stand or walk independently. These days his mother takes him to hospital three times a week because of seizures that he is suffering. It's getting worse every day for him.

In July 2021, the U.S. government changed the eligibility requirements for a Special Immigrant Visa (SIV), from two years of employment to one, and Fatima became eligible. And as all interpreters, her life became at risk when the Taliban took over Afghanistan in August 2021, and Special Immigrant Visas grant safety in the U.S. to our Afghan allies. While her service was invaluable - especially as one of a small number of female interpreters - the contractor she worked for has been unresponsive to all requests to complete the required paperwork.

The family has fled Afghanistan to Pakistan, where they are receiving medical care for Muiz. The doctors in Pakistan have told the family that the child’s prognosis will improve with the kind of care which he could receive in the U.S.

Given the family’s double vulnerability of its affiliation with the U.S. Army and the child’s health needs, we are eager to help them reach the U.S. for both safety and medical care.

Our sponsorship group will be responsible for greeting the refugee family at the airport, securing and furnishing initial housing, stocking their pantry, helping dad find employment, enrolling the older sibling in school, assisting in the navigation of health care, and supporting the family as they adjust to life in the United States. The money raised will be used to help pay security deposit and the first 1-3 months of rent, groceries until the family has received SNAP benefits, household furnishings that we cannot find by donation, and other essential items during the family's first 90 days. The Welcome Corps program ensures work authorization, and we will help dad to find a job in the U.S. Our group includes experienced volunteers, as well as Fatima's sibling who is already living in Westchester County.

Welcome Corps requires that we fundraise $2,425 for each member of the household, for a total of $9,800. As there is a 3% processing fee on GoFundMe, our total goal is $10,000.

A requirement of the Welcome Corps program is that we must have raised 60% of the total before we can apply, so our initial goal is $6,000.

Please help Muiz get the care he needs by bringing his family to safety.

*Names have been changed to protect the safety of Fatima and her family.