Two years ago, 29-year-old Eiman landed in Seattle from Afghanistan with her husband and two young sons. She began building a new home here in Washington and with help from the IRC’s Economic Empowerment Program, Eiman pursued a new career as a professional interpreter.

The IRC in Oakland's HOME program helps families with a housing subsidy, welcome home setup, and mentorship. The Jebran family from Afghanistan reflects on their past six months in the U.S. with the help of their HOME team and their hopes for the future.

The only Afghan grocery store in Georgia, Baseer’s Kabul Market has been an invaluable resource for the community as we welcome families who were recently evacuated from Afghanistan by the US. Since mid-October, the IRC in Atlanta has purchased more than 100 hot welcome meals from Kabul Market along with countless loaves of traditional Afghan bread!

Each year the IRC in San Diego resettles approximately 1,000 refugees with the majority coming from Iraq, Afghanistan, and Somalia in recent years. By September 30, we expect as many as 500 individuals, mostly Syrian, to reach their new homes in San Diego.

The IRC in Atlanta’s Career Development and Adult Education programs, in collaboration with Gwinnett Dental Career Academy (GDCA), recently graduated a second cohort of three former refugees—all young women from Afghanistan—through their Integrated Education and Training (IET) Dental Assistant course, a ten-week program focused on certifying new Americans in dental care and placing them in jobs.

The IRC in Atlanta’s partnership with the Technology Career Program (TCP) at TechBridge—an Information Technology (IT) training course—has helped more than 20 refugees and immigrants to gain a head start in the rapidly growing technology industry over the past year. One recent TCP graduate, Maiwand—who was evacuated from Afghanistan last fall—has gone above and beyond in his commitment to the program, and shares with us below his journey to rebuilding his life and career here in Atlanta.