Malalai Rostami drove through Tampa last week, from the Airbnb where she lived with her five younger siblings and mother to their new three-bedroom apartment near the University of South Florida.
It was the final leg of a month-long journey that began when Rostami left home in Kabul, Afghanistan, where she had been hiding and marched to Hamid Karzai International Airport. What followed was an overwhelming crowd, near dehydration and anxious lies told to pass the Taliban fighters blocking the way.
Rostami, who had worked for the US military as an air traffic controller, walked into her new apartment for the first time last Wednesday to find it fully furnished with a fridge full of food. The 24-year-old said she felt a wave of gratitude to have a permanent place.
“I’m doing my best to start my life over from scratch,” she said. “I’m here in Florida now. I feel safe, I feel safe.
More than a dozen Afghan families have arrived in Tampa Bay as refugees in recent weeks. More are expected as the 58,000 Afghans who have arrived in the United States since the chaotic U.S. withdrawal leave military bases where they are being processed.
the Tampa Bay agencies serving these refugees face a problem: finding accommodation in a region with skyrocketing rents and low inventory.
“Finding an apartment in Tampa is tough if you’re a local,” said Sabahat Khan, a certified realtor and property manager who volunteers as a housing team leader for Radiant Hands, a local charity that helps the refugees. “Can you imagine how difficult it is for a refugee?
Radiant Hands provides additional assistance, such as furniture, groceries and rides, in addition to what is provided by the government nonprofit resettlement agencies Lutheran Services Florida and Gulf Coast Jewish Family Services. These agencies temporarily help local refugees find housing, employment services and medical and cash assistance.
Amelia Fox, director of strategy for Lutheran Services, said her organization desperately needs owners “who are willing to work with us”.
The problem, Khan said, is that property managers want credit checks, references and proof that tenants are earning multiple times the monthly rent. Refugees who have just arrived in the country may not even be allowed to work yet. Some owners have offered to take the risk of tripling the normal security deposit, Khan said, but it’s a budget-breaking proposal for refugees with little savings who can live on cash assistance from the government.
Khan has negotiated to help place four families in flats so far. She said she knew six others currently stuck in Tampa Airbnb rentals and hotels. Uncertain housing can make it difficult to get a job or register for school or other services that require a permanent address.
Earlier on newcomers have an address, she says, “the sooner they integrate into the social fabric”.
Khan understands landlord hesitation, but said the refugees she works with are hard-working, highly skilled people who make excellent tenants.
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The first thing the families she meets want to know, Khan said, is when can they start working. She described a refugee who was a highly trained engineer in Afghanistan saying he would be happy to start with a job as an auto mechanic.
“They want to move on with their lives,” Khan said, “in a positive way.”
Rostami decided to flee Afghanistan when she learned that the newly empowered Taliban would no longer let women work at the airport. She had studied and trained hard for this job and she loved it. “I did my best to improve my life,” she said, “and I couldn’t do that (in Afghanistan) anymore.”
When she fled, she spent nearly 24 hours outside before she was able to sneak through a gate to Kabul airport where she once worked. The soldiers took her and her family on a plane to Qatar. Then came Germany, an exhibition center near Washington, DC, 52 days at an Air Force base in New Mexico, and finally, Tampa.
Most arrivals to Tampa are part of the special immigrant visa program for Afghans who have worked for the US armed forces, often as translators in dangerous combat situations. They are legal and permanent residents and can become US citizens after five years. A handful of others have been allowed in as “humanitarian parolees” and have a more complicated path to permanent residency.
The influx of donations from Tampa Bay residents seeking to help Afghans like the American withdrawal dominated the news was encouraging, said Radiant Hands executive director Ghadir Kassab. She founded the Tampa-based nonprofit after arriving in the United States as a refugee from Syria 10 years ago. Radiant Hands has trained nearly 100 new volunteers since August and had to rent three additional storage units for all donated household items and furniture.
“But my goal now,” Kassab said, “is to maintain that momentum and build on it.”
The Radiant Hands Welcoming Team gives newly arrived Afghans baskets including a phone, prayer rug, loose leaf green tea and sweet roasted chickpeas. Volunteers also provide hot meals, clothing and assistance translate documents into the three languages spoken by Afghans.
Rostami officially moved into her new apartment on Thursday with his brothers, aged 20, 19 and 6; sisters, 15 and 12; and mother, 46 years old. She said she was the sole breadwinner for the family in Afghanistan.
She may be hoping to become an air traffic controller again, or maybe join the military, but she has to take it step by step. The next item on his list is simply to get a driver’s license. She picked up a study guide last week.
She even went out with friends the other day for the first time. It was American servicemen who trained her in Afghanistan, those who recommended that she move to Tampa when she applied for the visa program.
It was the first time she had been to a bar. “It was close to the airport,” she said, “and it was beautiful.”
She drank soda.
How you can help
Those interested in volunteering or donating, or those who have rental accommodation available to refugees, can contact Sabahat Khan, Housing Team Manager for Radiant Handsat 813-545-5554 or [email protected], or Yasmin Sayed, Community Engagement Manager for Lutheran Services in Floridaat 813-293-4854 or [email protected].
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