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LSS PREFERRED COMMUNITIES PROGRAM OFFERS SUPPORT GROUP FOR WOMEN REFUGEES

Updated: Feb 15, 2023

THE ARTICLE WAS WRITTEN BY RENATA DI GREGORIO WITH FIRST COAST NEWS, AND ORIGINALLY PUBLISHED JANUARY 5TH, 2023. YOU CAN FIND THE ORIGINAL ARTICLE HERE.

JACKSONVILLE, Fla — As nations grapple with the curtailing of women’s rights in Afghanistan, those in Jacksonville are making sure women refugees are supported.

As one social services organization finds, support can come from creating a space for refugees to help each other. Lutheran Social Services offers a support group specifically for women refugees. The First Coast is now home to many more Afghan and Ukrainian refugees than just a year ago.

“You will always have a flow of refugees coming to the country,” said Intensive Case Manager Lily Attallah with Lutheran Social Services.

In the past fiscal year, Lutheran Social Services resettled more than five and a half times more refugees from Afghanistan than from anywhere else besides the Ukrainian refugees served under a certain status. The organization resettled nearly 280 refugees from Afghanistan and more than 550 refugees from Ukraine.

Many of the Afghan refugees are women who, unlike under the Taliban-controlled Afghanistan, can get an education past the sixth grade.

“The illiteracy of women is a global problem,” Attallah said.

Attallah says Jacksonville has a special support system for refugee women and a Lutheran Social Services program includes a refugee women’s support group.

“We have Syrians, we have Iraqis, we have from Afghanistan, we have from the Congo,” Attallah listed. “All these women come together in a workshop and they try also to help each other.”

Attallah describes specific challenges for women refugees including raising children in a new country.

“Sometimes you find that the woman is only here with the children and the husband is still there,” she said. “The woman doesn’t know what to do because she was relying on her husband and now she feels herself alone.”

No longer alone – the refugee women’s support group has more than a dozen members and can grow.

4 Comments


74oqth6gi
Aug 06

This is such an important story about supporting refugee women in Jacksonville. The sense of community and mutual aid is truly inspiring. By the way, I found a helpful gradient generator for anyone building a website to raise awareness for similar causes.

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¡Qué iniciativa tan interesante para preservar la historia y el patrimonio local! Es inspirador ver cómo un proyecto arqueológico también invita a la comunidad a participar como voluntaria y aprender más sobre su pasado. Encontré esta publicación mientras buscaba información relacionada con lotería de hoy y terminé descubriendo un lugar lleno de historia y dedicación. Gracias por compartir estas actividades y mucho éxito con la excavación y los futuros hallazgos.

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Musk Rika
Musk Rika
Jun 12

The LSS Preferred Communities Program offering a support group for women refugees is a meaningful initiative, creating a safe space for healing, connection, and empowerment. Programs like this not only provide emotional support but also help build resilience and community integration. It feels a bit like playing Slope game, where staying balanced and focused through constant twists is essential—navigating challenges carefully to achieve outcomes that are both supportive and rewarding.

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With its colorful visuals and engaging combat system, Ragdoll Hit provides endless fun for fans of action and physics-based games.

Edited
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Image by Dim Hou
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