Volunteers on the Alford team help move a family into a Pittsfield residence. Photo: Shirley Mueller

A warm welcome: Jewish Family Service resettles Afghan refugees into Berkshire community

After Syrian resettlement efforts in the county fell through in 2016 due to the Trump administration's anti-immigration policies, Jewish Family Service of Western Massachusetts has found success resettling Afghan refugees. An amazing web of local support has been the key.

PITTSFIELD — Gabriela Sheehan is no stranger to the struggles of relocation. Two decades ago, she watched from the sidelines as her father, a native of Nicaragua, relocated to the Berkshires from Arizona. A passion for the Catholic ministry, coupled with his own desire to attend mass in his native language, led Ramiro Guerrero to St. Mark’s Church on West Street in Pittsfield, where he was lucky enough to find a bilingual priest. What began with two or three congregants gathering for weekly masses in Spanish, ultimately expanded to Great Barrington to include “a huge population of people who essentially had not ever had access to religion in their own language, having the ability to worship [in Spanish]” for the first time, Sheehan told The Edge. She points to watching her now late father advocate for Latinos in the Berkshires — along with being multilingual and growing up in a bicultural home — as igniting her passion for advocacy.

“It felt so fitting, when I applied for this job, because there haven’t been resettlement efforts in the Berkshires since the 1980s,” said Sheehan, who was appointed Berkshires Resettlement Coordinator by Jewish Family Service of Western Massachusetts (JFS) in December. Sheehan joins the New America Program, currently tasked with facilitating the reception and placement of 25 Afghan refugees in Berkshire County.

Gabriela Sheehan
Gabriela Sheehan. Photo provided

Back in September 2016, JFS CEO and President Maxine Stein experienced an outpouring of support for Syrian resettlement efforts across the region. Sheehan attended an information session, led by Stein, on how locals could support Syrian refugees both in Springfield, where JFS is based, as well as in the Berkshires. “The basement [auditorium] of the Berkshire Athenaeum was packed,” Sheehan recalled, citing Trump’s election (and subsequent restrictions on individuals coming to this country) as causing the groundswell of energy to cease. Upon Biden’s election, refugees were again welcomed to the U.S., and another wave of momentum took hold.

“Maxine knew there was a lot of energy within the Berkshires,” said Sheehan, hence the organization’s extending their services further west. Sheehan described the Afghan resettlement efforts as “unlike other types of resettlement,” largely due to volume: there are a lot of people needing a lot of things all at the same time.

“It’s an amazing web of support,” said Sheehan, loosely citing 150 individuals across 30 organizations. “People from everywhere [are] doing everything,” she said, underscoring that her numbers — while gross estimates — represent “so many hands” working to address myriad issues, including access to culturally appropriate food (an effort being spearheaded by Berkshire Bounty), driver education training (starting this week with Dave’s Driving School, Inc.), and dozens of other needs.

The volunteer team from Berkshire Montessori School. Photo: Meagan Ledendecker

“We have host teams,” Sheehan explained, each of which is categorized by employment, housing, education, health, and community connections. The latter is the most broad and captures public services; fun, tourist-type activities; and legal issues. “Everything falls into one of those categories,” she said, adding that each Afghan family has a volunteer team — affiliated either geographically or by organization — and each of those teams is tapping resources in their greater community. Over time, “a team of volunteers that are not part of a team” has evolved; she also has a team of drivers who can transport people to appointments and the grocery store. Volunteers who are not already involved and wish to be can contact Sheehan directly.

Sheehan, who holds a Master of Education degree in career and technical education from Northern Arizona University, is leaning into the steep learning curve and adaptability required to meet the fluctuating needs of those who have resettled here. Still, she is in her element. “I love this job. It’s super challenging and there are always about 1,000 unexpected things that come up every day, so it requires a lot of flexibility, which fortunately I have,” she said candidly. (In addition to a decade spent teaching in Pittsfield Public Schools, Sheehan most recently taught ESL to multilingual students in grades 5–8 at Du Bois Middle School in Great Barrington.)

Volunteers on the Alford team help move a family into a Pittsfield residence. Photo: Shirley Mueller

Originally, Sheehan was expecting two waves of resettlement; ultimately, there will likely be just one. Still, there continue to be unanticipated arrivals and departures. At the close of February, Sheehan bid farewell to a family of four “on their way to the airport to reunite with their family in Virginia.” Another family, happy with the services and support they are receiving here, want to bring their family, who was resettled in California, to the Berkshires.

JFS resettles refugees fleeing their homelands in partnership with HIAS (formerly the Hebrew Immigrant Aid Society) and the State Department. In the past five years, more than 500 refugees from around the world have resettled in Western Massachusetts through the efforts of JFS.

Sheehan and her staff remain united in the goal of “establishing everything, from systems to relationships,” and hoping it will get easier as things move forward. For more information on how to volunteer, call 413-737-2601 or email g.sheehan@jfswm.org.