By Mary O’KEEFE

It’s been a busy election year for members of the Cañada Crescenta Democratic Club. First up was the primary election in March and now the upcoming November general election. Club members have been sending out postcards and manning telephones, getting the facts out about Democrat candidates – not just in California but throughout the country. But in the middle of it all Club members have taken the time to welcome and support refugees from Afghanistan.

Club President Susan Mastrodemos, Vice President Suzanne Goldberg and Members Joanne McBirney, Dona Mitoma and Bonnie Finn met with CVW one afternoon to share the story of refugee families who have found their way from Afghanistan to Glendale and created new American lives.

Six members of the Club were part of the Refugee Task Force steering committee that was founded by Finn. They wanted to help those who were coming to California from Afghanistan. They began their philanthropic outreach in August 2021 when they first heard about the U.S. evacuation from Afghanistan and the arrival of refugees into the U.S. They partnered with the Unitarian Universalist Church in Glendale whose congregation helped raise funds and store donated items.

The first thing the members did was to contact organizations that worked with immigration.

“It was quite difficult to get an agency on the phone,” Finn said. “So many people were wanting to help and there were so many refugees. It was quite astonishing.”

They finally got connected with the Glendale office of the International Institute of Los Angeles (IILA).

“We reached out to IILA and they said they would like us to sponsor a couple of families,” Goldberg said. “We have the people, we have the means and we could do it.”

The organization was happy to get the Club’s support and told members they needed to find an apartment for the family.

“They said, ‘When you find an apartment let us know and we will give you a family [to support],’” Goldberg said.

Finn began her hunt for housing. She drove around for hours and made a lot of phone calls, Mastrodemos said.

The problem Finn had was finding a landlord who would take refugee tenants. Because these families were coming from a country in turmoil they didn’t have a credit history.

As Club members continued to search, in December 2021 they received a call from the IILA telling them they had a family for them.

“We said we didn’t have an apartment yet and they said, ‘We have,’” Goldberg said.

The members said they were ready to receive the family; they were to pick them up at LAX the following week.

“We asked if we could see the apartment [IILA had for them]. They said, ‘Yes – how about tomorrow?’” Goldberg said. “So Susan and I went to see the apartment.”

It was, of course, empty and as they were figuring out what furnishings would be needed they heard a knock at the door downstairs – it was the family. A woman, an apparent caseworker, was with them.

“I asked, ‘Who are these people?’ And she said, ‘This is your family.’ We said we weren’t expecting them until the next week and she said, ‘[Well] this is your family,’” Goldberg said.

It was a husband, wife and two children. The husband had been an interpreter in Afghanistan so he could speak English well; his wife and kids did not know any English though, Mitoma said.

The family had been staying in Monrovia with residents who volunteered to house them until a place of their own could be found; however, the residents had to leave so the family had to move into their own apartment earlier than planned.

“We had [about] 16 hours to prepare the apartment for them,” Mitoma said.

The Club members got to work and contacted the UU Church of Verdugo Hills and told them they were ready to go. They were able to, in a very short time, furnish the apartment and stock the food pantry and refrigerator. Once they explained what they were doing they found many people willing to help including Mattress Depot in Verdugo City on Honolulu Avenue.

“They gave us a really good deal,” Goldberg said. “The family was very grateful. The day they arrived, they came up to the apartment and we showed them where everything was.”

The family was overwhelmed. As the Club members left the wife came downstairs and hugged them.

The members are still helping the family, including working with state and local agencies like Medi-Cal. This is where they have spent most of their time, calling agencies and trying to get everything, from CalFresh so they can start getting help with food to the Social Security office. They spent hours just trying to get to the right agency then spent more time waiting on the phone to speak to someone who could help.

The members did say that once they reached someone on the phone the representatives were always kind and helpful. In fact, they spoke of one person from the state’s CalFresh program who worked hard to make sure the family’s paperwork went through prior to the holidays so they would be able to purchase food.

The agencies’ resources have been stretched thin because so many refugees have relocated to the U.S.

Mastrodemos pointed out that the Club committee members are from the world of business and have worked with very complicated agencies in the past; however, even they were having issues with the process. They couldn’t imagine how difficult it must be for immigrants who come to this country without support.

The family has been doing well and the Club members are now helping more Afghan refugees. Not only are they continuing to get donations and fighting agency red tape but Mitoma was also able to get the refugees jobs and has helped the children of the first family get settled in public school. Adults in the second family are being helped signing up and attending Glendale Community College.

The Club continues to help these families and continues to support the Afghanistan refugees.

The Cañada Crescenta Democratic Club has an account through Act Blue to receive and disburse monetary donations for the Afghan families that they are supporting. Go to https://secure.actblue.com/donate/ccdcrefugee to make a donation. Please note that donations here are not tax-deductible.

For those who prefer to claim a tax deduction, the Congregational Church of La Cañada has a portal on its website for accepting donations that will go to the Afghan families’ welfare. Go to lacanadachurch.org.

The Cañada Crescenta Democratic Club was chartered in 2005 by the Los Angeles County Democratic Party. The Club was originally known as the La Cañada Flintridge Democratic Club but the name was changed in 2008 to reflect the growing number of areas served. These areas are Sunland-Tujunga, La Crescenta, La Cañada Flintridge, Altadena, Shadow Hills, Montrose and Pasadena.