Temple Shalom Afghan Resettlement Program
What is TSARP?
Temple Shalom Afghan Resettlement Project (TSARP) started its work in the fall of 2021, with the fall of Afghanistan to the Taliban and the resulting resettlement of almost 100,000 Afghans in the United States under the “humanitarian parole” program. TSARP is a collaboration between members of Temple Shalom, the Our Lady’s/Sacred Heart Collaborative, the Dover and Pilgrim Churches and other dedicated community members. TSARP has provided both financial support and volunteer help to three Afghan families in our community.
The First “Family” TSARP Helped
After several months of fundraising and looking for housing for Afghan arrivals, Catholic Charities at the end of 2021 assigned TSARP 4 young men, all Afghan Air Force and Army veterans escaping the Taliban. Thanks to the generosity of TSARP donors and the Shapiro Foundation, and the work of a large group of TSARP volunteers, we were able to house them in an apartment complex in Chestnut Hill and help them get jobs and settle into their new lives in Massachusetts. After working hard in their jobs, getting driver’s licenses, and improving their English, these young men now live independently in Massachusetts, Texas, Oklahoma and Colorado.
The Second Family TSARP Helped
In spring of 2022, we started helping a family with a 4-year-old and a baby on the way. The first American citizen among all that TSARP has sponsored, he was born in June of 2022, to the delight of his parents and big sister. TSARP continues to help this family with housing support as both parents work and big sister attends kindergarten. What a joy this is to see!
The Third Family TSARP Helped
In Sept 2023, TSARP started helping the Ashori family. Like those of the first two families, their story is heartbreaking and inspiring. Fahima Ashori studied painting at the Fine Art Institute in Kabul, Afghanistan. After the fall of Afghanistan, she was brought to Wellfleet in June 2022 with the help of Yo Yo Ma's Silkroad. An oil painter for nearly a decade, she has shown and sold her artwork in Afghanistan and the United States. You can see some of Fahima’s artwork at https://ricepolakgallery.com/
“My name is Fahima. I am from Afghanistan. I am a visual artist and I used to have an amazing art gallery in Kabul, Afghanistan. As an active and independent woman, I became a target of the Taliban. I did many murals around Kabul City related to women's rights, equality, and freedom. I was threatened by the Taliban and forced to shut my gallery down and flee to India with my sister Parastou who was a reporter in a private newspaper in Kabul. Luckily, we could make it to the US in June 2022 with the help of some amazing people and organizations….our brother who was a dentist in Kabul, could flee from Afghanistan and joined us safely here in Boston in January …his fiancé Huma Rahimi who is the first female sitar player of Afghanistan reunited to our family in mid-June 2023” This article talks about Huma’s journey https://www.bostonglobe.com/
How You Can Help
To help TSARP continue with rent help for these families, who have come so far and worked so hard, you can use the Temple Donations page Donate - Temple Shalom and choose TS Afghan Resettlement Program, or simply send a check to Temple Shalom noting a donation to TS Afghan Resettlement Project.)