All seemed to be going well when a multigenerational family of 20 from the Congo was selected for resettlement in the United States as one group. But then only 15 of the family members landed safely in Oregon while the other five family members were rerouted to New Jersey for permanent resettlement.

 

Understandably, they were completely devastated by the separation. Their top priority was to reunite as soon as physically possible. The  resettlement agency (IRC) here supported this, and transferred their case to the west coast resettlement agency immediately, along with all the Resettlement and Placement resources available to them as refugees upon arrival, paving the way for their permanent resettlement to begin there.

 

However, the transfer of all their resources left them with no financial support here in NJ and no way to fund the 3,000-mile journey to reunite with the rest of their family. With their hands tied, the IRC reached out to RAP for help.

 

With the help of two matching donations (one of which is from RAP partner, One World One Love) RAP was able to purchase five plane tickets from our funds.  The family flew to Oregon and was reunited with the rest of their brood less than a week after receiving the request.