{"id":729847,"date":"2023-08-22T06:00:00","date_gmt":"2023-08-22T11:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/oklahomawatch.org\/?p=729847"},"modified":"2023-08-22T10:44:07","modified_gmt":"2023-08-22T15:44:07","slug":"afghan-refugee-resettlement-highlights-inequities-for-all-vulnerable-oklahomans","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/oklahomawatch.org\/2023\/08\/22\/afghan-refugee-resettlement-highlights-inequities-for-all-vulnerable-oklahomans\/","title":{"rendered":"Afghan Refugee Resettlement Highlights Inequities for All Vulnerable Oklahomans"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Oklahoma was preparing for 1,800 Afghan refugees. Jeff and Christine Poyner were eager to help.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Yukon residents saw news reports stating that nonprofits leading the resettlement needed volunteers and wasted no time finding out how they could contribute.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The moment they contacted Catholic Charities Archdiocese of Oklahoma City and agreed to help an Afghan family of 11 locate housing, access healthcare, obtain driver\u2019s licenses and enroll their children in school, they didn\u2019t know they\u2019d signed up for a front-row seat to a display of systemic inequities in Oklahoma that plague vulnerable, low-income families across the state. It was a display they would be called on to testify about two years later during a review of the resettlement operation by state lawmakers.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWhen we first met the Mamond family at the airport, they\u2019re a large family, so we broke them up into two cars and took them to the hotel,\u201d Poyner said. \u201cWe noticed they didn\u2019t have very many belongings. Come to find out their luggage was misplaced in Qatar, one of the countries on the way here.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The first order of business was to take the family to Walmart and buy them clothes. Each family member got two outfits, underwear and socks. They asked where hijabs and the rest of the traditional Islamic clothing items were in the sea of colorful racks before them. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

As sponsors, or Oklahomans who volunteered to help one or more Afghan families find a home and furnish it on their own dime or with donations, the Poyners chose to walk along the path of a revelatory journey that encompassed much more frustration, heartache and selflessness than what Catholic Charities first led them to expect.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\t\n\t\t

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\n\t\t\t\t\tthe latest<\/span>\n\t\t\t\t<\/h2>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t
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Audio Stories: December 29, 2025<\/a><\/h3>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t
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For those living conditions<\/a>, families paid $750 to $3,500 per month for one- to three-bedroom apartments or homes. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

While Afghans were struggling to find homes, Oklahomans across the state were losing theirs.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

More than 80,000 Oklahomans across the state needed rental and utility assistance over the course of the pandemic, and many were being evicted from their homes as they waited for help. With housing assistance only being available for up to 15 months, including back-payments for missed bills, many Afghans face the same fate today because they can\u2019t afford to sustain themselves and their families with one or two incomes of $15 an hour.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cOur most pressing ongoing concerns are the cost of housing exacerbated by the large sizes of families and the fact that many are one-income families with no assistance,\u201d Nachalito, who helps coordinate refugee assistance for the Jewish community, said. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThere is simply no way for our families to provide housing for themselves,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Members of the Temple B\u2019nai Israel, Emanuel Synagogue, Jewish Federation and other Jewish groups sponsored 12 refugee families \u2014 a total of 67 people. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Two other issues raised were the need for the state to facilitate the obtainment of state identification documents like driver\u2019s licenses and birth certificates and recognize the professional certifications held by refugees who are educated and worked in their home country as interpreters, nurses, doctors and engineers, and other jobs.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Over the course of six months, the Poyners helped more than 50 Afghan fathers get their driver\u2019s licenses and 75 children enroll in Putnam City Schools.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u00a0\u201cIt started with the two families that we sponsor,\u201d Poyner said, \u201cBut within this community, once the word gets out about something, it spreads very quickly.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

He said he discovered that in Oklahoma there is a way to bypass the written driver\u2019s test if a person takes a 10-hour class and participates in 6 hours of hands-on training. Poyner reached out to a local driving school asking if they would provide the course if he could find someone to translate the material.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThey said their only requirement is to hit at least 10 people in the class,\u201d he said. \u201cWe partnered with The Spero Project who provided translators and ended up hitting 20 in the first class and then 25 in the second, and then subsequent smaller classes.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Poyner would not only drop the men off at driving school, but also take them to Department of Public Safety offices to get their permits, sometimes waiting for hours.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Spero Project is a nonprofit that fosters a long-term sense of community for refugees who arrive in Oklahoma. Kim Bandy, the organization\u2019s director, focused part of her presentation on the plethora of professional certifications held by Afghans that are not recognized by the state. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cMany of our neighbors have come with professional experience that we believe could and should transfer into the city and be recognized and leveraged,\u201d Bandy said, as she showed a slide listing more than 40 examples of degrees \u2014 from bachelors to doctorates \u2014 and previous work experiences held by Afghans.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Veronica Laizure, an attorney who serves as Council on American-Islamic Relations deputy director, said many of the professional skills and experiences Afghans brought to Oklahoma could bolster the state workforce. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWithout the ability to transfer that education here into Oklahoma, they\u2019re instead forced into these low-wage jobs that aren\u2019t sufficient for their needs,\u201d Laizure said. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The problem for Afghans is exacerbated by the fact that many of them left their homes with nothing but their families in tow, and are living here on humanitarian parole, a temporary immigration status<\/a> that will expire Sept. 30, she said. They arrived with No IDs, no certificates, no bags, no proof that they planned on leaving their home, just in case they were stopped by the Taliban during their escape. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Laizure provided policy recommendations to lawmakers in the Veterans and Military Affairs committee. They include ensuring the availability of quality affordable housing and better protections for tenants, a better system for cooperation between charitable organizations, the state and the federal government and facilitating the obtainment of state identification documents and professional certificates, while also recognizing them from other countries, such as Afghanistan.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThe charitable sector can\u2019t do everything,\u201d Laizure said. \u201cWe can\u2019t build housing, we can\u2019t change the driver\u2019s test, and we can\u2019t make state welfare benefits available to the newcomers who need it.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Laizure suggested the state construct a website she described as a state bank of resources  that contains information about navigating housing, healthcare and employment in the state. The resource should be available to all Oklahomans, she said. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWe think that some common-sense policies at the state level could help alleviate these concerns, not only for our current Afghan families, not only for any future refugees who might find their way to Oklahoma, but for all struggling and marginalized and vulnerable Oklahomans who are also experiencing so many of these challenges,\u201d Laizure said. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

But in order for any changes to state law that would benefit refugees and other vulnerable Oklahomans to occur, there needs to exist the political will in lawmakers to write the legislation and fight for it in the House and Senate chambers of the Capitol. Patrick Raglow said he is under no illusions that will happen. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThere are some things we can do as the state of Oklahoma, and anytime you can increase understanding, that\u2019s always good,\u201d Raglow said. \u201cI don\u2019t mean to be too cynical, but the fact is this isn\u2019t the first time Oklahoma\u2019s legislature has heard about the challenges in affordable housing or the quality of housing. We\u2019ve had that conversation going back since before I started this work in the city.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWill this study make the legislature fix everything?\u201d Raglow said. \u201cNo. Will it advance what needs to be done? Yes, I think so.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Ed. Note:<\/strong> This story was updated on 8\/22\/2023 to correct the spelling of Jeff and Christine Poyner’s surname.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n

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Lionel Ramos covers state government for KOSU. Reach him at lionel@kosu.org<\/a>.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

<\/div>\n\n\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Hosted by Sen. Carri Hicks, D-Oklahoma City, and members of the Senate Veterans and Military Affairs Committee, the study revealed how existing inequities in Oklahoma related to housing, employment and means of accessing government assistance programs exacerbated the challenges of resettling Afghans when they began arriving in September 2021.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2625215,"featured_media":688335,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"gigafact_has_fact_brief":false,"gigafact_remote_fact_brief_post_id":0,"gigafact_remote_sync_timestamp":"","gigafact_remote_sync_status":"","gigafact_remote_sync_response":"","gigafact_has_been_published":false,"newspack_ads_suppress_ads":false,"newspack_popups_has_disabled_popups":false,"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"everlit_article_id":"","everlit_hide_embed":false,"everlit_embed_size":"","everlit_generation_settings":[],"_everlit_article_id":"","_everlit_hide_embed":false,"_everlit_embed_size":"","_everlit_generation_settings":[],"_everlit_content_hash":"","_everlit_metadata_hash":"","_newspack_byline_active":false,"_newspack_byline":"","newspack_featured_image_position":"","newspack_post_subtitle":"","newspack_article_summary_title":"Overview:","newspack_article_summary":"","newspack_hide_updated_date":false,"newspack_show_updated_date":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[4943,17274,15],"tags":[12321,7527,12325],"series":[],"coauthors":[10266],"class_list":["post-729847","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-equity","category-housing","category-immigration","tag-afghan","tag-housing","tag-refugees","entry"],"fact_brief":null,"yoast_head":"\nAfghan Refugee Resettlement Highlights Inequities for All Vulnerable Oklahomans - Oklahoma Watch<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/oklahomawatch.org\/2023\/08\/22\/afghan-refugee-resettlement-highlights-inequities-for-all-vulnerable-oklahomans\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Afghan Refugee Resettlement Highlights Inequities for All Vulnerable Oklahomans - Oklahoma Watch\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Hosted by Sen. Carri Hicks, D-Oklahoma City, and members of the Senate Veterans and Military Affairs Committee, the study revealed how existing inequities in Oklahoma related to housing, employment and means of accessing government assistance programs exacerbated the challenges of resettling Afghans when they began arriving in September 2021.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/oklahomawatch.org\/2023\/08\/22\/afghan-refugee-resettlement-highlights-inequities-for-all-vulnerable-oklahomans\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Oklahoma Watch\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/OklahomaWatch\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2023-08-22T11:00:00+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2023-08-22T15:44:07+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/oklahomawatch.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/11\/RefugeeDonations_3.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1200\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"801\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Lionel Ramos\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@OklahomaWatch\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@OklahomaWatch\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Lionel Ramos\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"9 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/oklahomawatch.org\/2023\/08\/22\/afghan-refugee-resettlement-highlights-inequities-for-all-vulnerable-oklahomans\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/oklahomawatch.org\/2023\/08\/22\/afghan-refugee-resettlement-highlights-inequities-for-all-vulnerable-oklahomans\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"Lionel Ramos\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/oklahomawatch.org\/#\/schema\/person\/7208a4ca14860fcb1eca4f39950f9d6a\"},\"headline\":\"Afghan Refugee Resettlement Highlights Inequities for All Vulnerable Oklahomans\",\"datePublished\":\"2023-08-22T11:00:00+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2023-08-22T15:44:07+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/oklahomawatch.org\/2023\/08\/22\/afghan-refugee-resettlement-highlights-inequities-for-all-vulnerable-oklahomans\/\"},\"wordCount\":1986,\"commentCount\":0,\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/oklahomawatch.org\/#organization\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/oklahomawatch.org\/2023\/08\/22\/afghan-refugee-resettlement-highlights-inequities-for-all-vulnerable-oklahomans\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/oklahomawatch.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/11\/RefugeeDonations_3.jpg?fit=1200%2C801&ssl=1\",\"keywords\":[\"Afghan\",\"Housing\",\"refugees\"],\"articleSection\":[\"Equity\",\"Housing\",\"Immigration\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/oklahomawatch.org\/2023\/08\/22\/afghan-refugee-resettlement-highlights-inequities-for-all-vulnerable-oklahomans\/#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/oklahomawatch.org\/2023\/08\/22\/afghan-refugee-resettlement-highlights-inequities-for-all-vulnerable-oklahomans\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/oklahomawatch.org\/2023\/08\/22\/afghan-refugee-resettlement-highlights-inequities-for-all-vulnerable-oklahomans\/\",\"name\":\"Afghan Refugee Resettlement Highlights Inequities for All Vulnerable Oklahomans - 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