By Margie Simon
With the exception of the year I was in graduate school, I have lived in Baltimore my whole life. This is my makom, the place I call home, the place where I have friends and family and my synagogue community, the place where I have roots.
This past year, I have thought a lot about what it would be like to be forced to leave my makom and find a new one.
In August of 2021, thousands of Afghans were evacuated by the U.S. military. These were people whose lives were at risk because of work they had done for the U.S. government and other Western organizations.
The traditional refugee resettlement agencies were not able to handle this huge influx of newcomers, so the government agreed to try an alternative model to assist. Chizuk Amuno Congregation and Schools stepped up to the challenge by forming and funding a Welcome Circle to provide a family of Afghan newcomers the services of a resettlement agency under the guidance of HIAS.
Nine congregants, including myself, volunteered for this effort, but what I am sharing are my personal reflections.
The family of three — young parents and a toddler, with whom we were matched in February of 2022 — were well-educated and upper middle-class. They left behind in Kabul a beautiful home, friends and family. They would not have left Afghanistan if they had had a choice.
For me, that made helping them find their makom in Baltimore even more important.
Where to house the family became the first learning experience for me. Before the family arrived, another Welcome Circle member and I, after much research, found an affordable apartment that met the criteria we had been given by HIAS (close to public transportation, affordable, close to shopping, etc.). I thought the apartment was very nice, but the family as well as the other members of the Welcome Circle were not happy when they saw it. They found the setting of the apartment depressing, not a place the family could feel at home.
The family wanted someplace that was bright and modern in a vibrant community, similar to the community they had left. We regrouped, juggled the budget to allow for slightly higher rent and found an apartment that the family loves. The father quickly found a well-paying job, so the higher rent ended up being affordable. Finding a different apartment was the right decision.
The family had shared with us early on that the young mother was the oldest of six, and her parents and five siblings had escaped to Pakistan and were now waiting for visas to come to the United States. Now the family wondered, could we help resettle this second family?
The second family had originally thought they would go to California, but now they wanted to come to Baltimore to be near their daughter and her family. The Welcome Circle had long discussions going over the reasons we should move cautiously, but in the end I knew we would say yes. Already, we cared about this young family. Having at least part of their family with them would be another step in making them feel that Baltimore was their makom.
With the support of the congregation a second Welcome Circle was formed and on July 22nd the second family arrived in Baltimore. The second Welcome Circle was able to find a large, beautiful apartment within walking distance of the first family.
It has been wonderful to see the joy in the face of the toddler as he reconnected with his doting aunts and uncle. They love playing with him and were so happy to meet his baby brother. As you can imagine, the grandparents are thrilled to be with their oldest daughter and grandchildren again.
I love watching them play with their three-month-old grandson. Finding child care is no longer an issue with seven potential babysitters. The young mother can finally attend ESOL classes and soon, when the baby is a little older, she will be able to work outside the home. The two families support each other in so many ways.
Deuteronomy 10:19 commands that “You too must befriend the stranger, for you were strangers in the land of Egypt.” The 11 members of these two families are now my friends.
I am the grandchild of immigrants who were at one time strangers in this country. Someone helped them find their makom in Baltimore.
I feel blessed to have the opportunity to help my new friends find their place in the United States.
A lifelong member of Chizuk Amuno Congregation, Margie Simon lives in Pikesville and is the team leader for Chizuk Amuno Welcome Circle 1 and a member of the Gemilut Hasadim committee.
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