193 Refugee Families Bought Homes in Phoenix, Arizona

In the picture: Husham's mother, Caitlin Maynard and  Jon Vosper (IRC), Husham's father, Husham and his sister, Marijana Ababovic, ISED in their newly renovated kitchen.
 
Only two years in the United States, Husham Shato from Iraq bought a house for his family - his parents and his sister, and is considering next steps in education or business.  
 
In the times when employment is a serious concern, when mortgages are hard to secure, IRC Phoenix Micro-enterprise (M/E) and IDA staff is successfully helping refugees to purchase homes and to start businesses. So far, they have helped 193 refugee families to buy homes in Arizona.
Caitlin Maynard is the IDA Coordinator and the main person of contact for the refugee savers. She personally interviews each family and guides them through the savings process all the way to the closing.
The workload is staggering, and thanks to the IRC support, to her M/E and RAPP  colleagues and excellent partnerships with the local realtors and banks, Caitlin is able to help refugees master this confusing process of home buying. The IDA work is more often than not overwhelming and very few people stay in this field for long.

Talking about balancing the refugees needs with time she has available, and what makes her passionate about her work, Caitlin identifies one thing that she is most proud of and that keeps her going: "That I have helped single mothers buy their first homes".
 

 
The focus group of refugees who have saved  or are saving to buy their first home:  Cecilia (Liberia) a single mother with 5 children, Caitlin (IRC), Tom (Burma),  Thomas (Liberia), Angelique (Somalia) a  single mother with 4 children, Fatuma (Iraq) a single mother of 2 children;  in the front, Sevale from Burma.
 International Rescue Committee Phoenix Arizona is a renown provider of refugee resettlement services and have helped thousands of refugees find employment and re-start their lives in Arizona.  The IRC's  Economic Development Department, headed by Jon Vosper, has three programs partially funded by the Office of Refugee Resettlement: Refugee Microenterprise Program, Individual Development Program and Refugee Agriculture Program.
These three programs work  together offering refugees a unique opportunity to develop businesses supported by both IDA and Micro-enterprise staff or to run a farm with  IDA or Micro-enterprise support.

Daniel Martin-Mora, a business advisor in  Refugee Microenterprise -  helped an IDA client, Gamail Ibrahim, develop a business plan for his upholstery business.
For more information on IRC's Refugee Economic Development programs, please contact 
 
Jon Vosper | Community and Economic Development Program Manager
International Rescue Committee
5227 N 7th Street Phoenix, AZ 85014 | theIRC.org 
T 602 433 2440 x 235 | F 602 433 2881 | Skype jonvtheIRC