A family lands after years of waiting and gets an empty apartment. What’s in it on night one shapes what the country feels like for a long time after.
Furnish a Refugee Family's First Apartment
Take one arriving family's apartment setup as a group — beds made, pantry stocked, lamps on, and the whole place warm before they walk in the door.
What you'll need
- The resettlement agency's setup list — follow it exactly
- Beds and bedding first, then a table and chairs, then everything else
- Groceries the family actually eats, which the caseworker can tell you
Pitfalls
- Ask the agency what the family eats before you fill the pantry. Guessing wastes money and lands badly.
- New mattresses and new pillows only. Everything else can be secondhand.
- Don't be standing in the apartment when they arrive. Set it up, leave, come back next week.
The foreigner residing among you must be treated as your native-born. Love them as yourself. — Leviticus 19:34