Report on Afghan Refugee Resettlement

Read the below report on what support we have been able to provide our new Afghan neighbors as they settle in Oklahoma, including items distributed through our Refugee Resource Center. This report will be updated on an ongoing basis.

CAIR Oklahoma has been instrumental in working alongside Catholic Charities to welcome 1,006 Afghan newcomers to the Oklahoma City metropolitan area, with 1,806 resettled statewide. More than fifty percent of these new arrivals are under the age of 18, and there have been more than a dozen Afghan babies born in our state. Forty-four percent of these families are settled in permanent housing, with twenty percent of the heads of the household employed. All school-age children in permanent housing have been enrolled in school.

December 2022 Update

Below are the numbers that reflect the services and support we were able to provide for our new Afghan neighbors in December 2022. In December, we were open for six days, with a total of 30 families visiting, representing a total of 236 individuals. We welcomed 17 individual volunteers, saving CAIR-OK $1,900 in the month of December through their efforts. The CAIR-OK volunteer team delivered 13 Urban Mission food requests to our Afghan neighbors providing food for 81 individuals. We also had the opportunity to work with our fantastic community and interfaith partners in distributing 850 coats, hats, scarves, gloves, and socks to Afghan households in the Oklahoma City metropolitan area.

Winter Gear Distributed (Individuals)

November 2022 Update

Below are the numbers that reflect the services and support we were able to provide for our new Afghan neighbors in November 2022. In November, we were open for three days with a total of 33 families visiting representing 231 individuals with an average of 11 families per day.

We welcomed 92 individual volunteers and volunteer groups from the following organizations saving CAIR-OK $8,512 in the month of November through their efforts.

• The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints
• Oklahoma City University
• St. John’s Episcopal Church
• St. Paul’s Episcopal Cathedral
• OKC First Church of the Nazarene
• Disciples of Christ

In addition to the volunteers, CAIR-OK partnered with over 20 interfaith and community groups who made financial contributions, donated winter gear, and gave time to provide over 800 new warm winter coats, hats, scarves, gloves, and socks to Afghan neighbors who have made the OKC metro area their home.

Number of Winter Gear Items Donated (Coats, Hats, Gloves, etc.)

October 2022 Update

Below are the numbers that reflect the services and support we were able to provide for our new Afghan neighbors in October 2022. In October, we were open for seven days, with a total of 73 families visiting, representing 502 individuals. We welcomed 89 individual volunteers and volunteer groups from The Church of Jesus Chris of Latter-Day Saints, saving CAIR-OK $5,106 in the month of October through their efforts. We also had the opportunity to work with our fantastic community and interfaith partners to distribute 31 sewing kits to Afghan families and provide 27 families with diapers and other baby items.

Food Boxes Delivered (Courtesy of Urban Mission Pantry)

September 2022 Update

Below are the numbers that reflect the services and support we were able to provide for our new Afghan neighbors in September 2022. In September, we were open for six days with a total of 54 families visiting, representing 337 individuals. We welcomed 25 individual volunteers, saving CAIR-OK $2,918 in the month of September through their efforts. We also had the opportunity to work with our amazing community and interfaith partners in distributing 82 sewing kits to our Afghan neighbors.

Food Boxes Delivered (Courtesy of Urban Mission Pantry)

August 2022 Update

Below are the numbers that reflect the services and support we were able to provide for our new Afghan neighbors in August 2022. In August, we were open for nine days with a total of 24 families visiting. We welcomed 28 individual volunteers and a volunteer group from Tinker Airforce Base, saving CAIR-OK $3,712 in the month of August through their efforts. We also had the opportunity to work with our amazing community and interfaith partners in distributing 226 backpacks to all Afghan children enrolled in the Putnam City School District and 111 prayer rugs to the OKC, Putnam City, and Stillwater school districts for use by Afghan children.

Food Boxes Delivered (Courtesy of Islamic Relief and Urban Mission Pantry)

Tinker Air Force Base volunteers helping to sort out clothing and hygiene items for our new Afghan neighbors.

July 2022 Update

Below are the numbers that reflect the services and support we were able to provide for our new Afghan neighbors in July 2022. In July, we partnered with Catholic Charities of Oklahoma City to provide back-to-school hygiene kits for 400 students in Oklahoma City and Putnam City schools. The kits include body wash, shampoo, conditioner, bar soap, and deoderant. Also, in July, we were honored to host U.S. Senate candidate Madison Horn for a visit to tour our Refugee Resource Center and learn more about our new Afghan community.

Food Boxes Delivered (Courtesy of Islamic Relief and Urban Mission Pantry)

U.S. Senate Candidate, Madison Horn visited the Refugee Resource Center to learn more about CAIR-OK’s refugee services [July 25].

June 2022 Update

Below are the numbers that reflect the services and support we were able to provide for our new Afghan neighbors in June 2022. June saw a huge showing of volunteer efforts from two local groups, ICNA Relief and Tinker Air Force Base. Although fewer items were distributed in June due to limited openings at our resource center (which closed for two weeks because of a music camp in our shared space), we were excited to know that more than 500 of our Afghan neighbors transitioned to temporary housing with only a handful of families left in hotels.

Food Boxes Delivered (Courtesy of Islamic Relief and Urban Mission Pantry)

ICNA Relief volunteers donating clothing today and helping hang everything up for our Afghan neighbors.

May 2022 Update

Below are the numbers that reflect the services and support we were able to provide for our new Afghan neighbors in May 2022. In May, we partnered with Catholic Charities Oklahoma City and The Spero Project to host a special Eid Festival for our new Afghan community, which close to 1,000 people attended. This was one of the year’s highlights for the Afghan community as kids celebrated with games and gifts, and adults danced and congratulated one another on the successful completion of the Holy Month of Ramadan.

Additionally, CAIR Oklahoma opened a new Refugee Resource Center at St. John’s Episcopal Church and School on North Brookline Ave in OKC. The Center is open to visitors Mondays and Wednesdays 11:30-3:30 and provides clothing, household items, hygiene items, back-to-school supplies, and much more.

CAIR Oklahoma staff also visited 83 Afghan children at Tulakes and Wiley Post Elementary Schools during their last week of classes and distributed candy in recognition of the Eid Al-Fitr holiday.

Afghans Provided With Hygiene Item Assistance

April 2022 Update

Below are the numbers that reflect the services and support we were able to provide for our new Afghan neighbors in April 2022. In April, we worked alongside partner groups such as Catholic Charities, The Spero Project, Surayya Anne Foundation OKC, and Refugee Support Group to ensure that the first Ramadan for Afghan Refugees in Oklahoma would be a spiritually uplifting and memorable one.

In the month of April, we had a total of 67 volunteers who assisted us for 342 hours for a total value of $8,562 in volunteer time contributed. In preparation for the Holy Month of Ramadan, we were able to meet our fundraising goal to put together Ramadan Mubarak Kits for our new Afghan neighbors that consisted of Ramadan stickers and coloring books for the kinds, candy, a thermos for coffee/tea, a Ramadan prayer schedule, and much more. Along with the Ramadan Kits, we distributed Ramadan food boxes from Islamic Relief USA provided through Khan Ohana Foundation to all Afghans in permanent housing.

Prayer Rugs Distributed (Courtesy of Refugee Support Group)

Part of our focus with our new Afghan community is ensuring that children are enrolled in school, have all the supplies they need, and are growing comfortably in their new learning environments.

March 2022 Update

Below are the numbers that reflect the services and support we were able to provide for our new Afghan neighbors in March 2022.

Number of Backpacks With School Supplies Provided to Students

February 2022 Update

Below are the numbers that reflect the services and support we were able to provide for our new Afghan neighbors in February 2022. In February, we welcomed our final Afghan family bringing the total number of Afghans resettled in the Oklahoma City metropolitan area to 1,006 and the total number of Afghans resettled in Tulsa to 800 for a grand total of 1,806.

Number of Volunteers