Nonprofits Collect Items in Brooklyn Center Warehouse to Resettle Afghan Refugees
A pair of nonprofit organizations are leading an effort in Brooklyn Center to help Afghan refugees resettle in Minnesota. Los Angeles-based Team Rubicon and Minneapolis-based Alight are collecting donations for all the things that go into a home. That includes everything from furniture to appliances.
Team Rubicon is running a warehouse in Brooklyn Center to organize the collection of home supplies. It’s also handling logistics and management of donations. Alight, meanwhile, has been raising the funds and setting up the homes. The collaboration aims to help 250 Afghan families start a new life in the Twin Cities.
“Most families are arriving with very little,” said Annie Nolte-Henning with Alight.
The collection effort is on a tight deadline. The military bases where many Afghan evacuees now live are set to close Feb. 15.
“We are being asked in a six-week period to set up 250 homes and of course you throw in COVID, the bitter cold, a global supply chain issue, it’s been quite the task at hand,” said Nolte-Henning.
Team Rubicon and Alight are also striving to take their efforts a step further.
“All of us have this comfort and joy that we get out of homes and we want to give that to our new Afghan neighbors, so we’re really trying to understand what those personal and cultural needs are,” Nolte-Henning said.
For more information on the effort and how you can help, visit the website Wearealight.org/welcome-home.
Brooklyn Center warehouse where Afghan collection effort is taking place.
