An Idaho nonprofit group supporting students who have been refugees said events like the war in Iran can have painful effects here at home.

Idaho is home to more than 7,700 people who have arrived as refugees since 2015. The organization One Refugee helps those with refugee backgrounds get a college education.

Jeanie Levinski, the group's Idaho director, said political developments nationally and internationally directly affect the students and their families.

"It can remind them of the past traumas that they themselves may have faced with war and displacement," Levinski explained. "And also, just general sentiments around immigration right now, there's just been a lot of uncertainty."

One Refugee has helped more than 500 students from 38 different countries since the program started in 2014. It operates in Idaho, Utah and Arizona, with Idaho's office opening in 2020. The program provides scholarships and helps students navigate the educational system. Levinsky said the majority of Idaho participants come from the Democratic Republic of the Congo and Afghanistan.

A top priority for One Refugee is to prepare people to find good jobs after graduation. Coaches help students polish resumes, practice for interviews and reach out to potential employers. Levinski pointed out another big focus is social support, and One Refugee provides a safe space for students to connect.

"Even though they may come from different countries around the world, they still have that shared experience of what it's like to have to come to a new place and start over from scratch," Levinski observed. "And the challenges that they had to navigate along the way."

Levinski added there is a lot of misunderstanding about refugees and emphasized many are not here by choice. She encouraged others to imagine themselves in the same situation.

"How they would feel if they were told tomorrow that they needed to leave their home, or it just wasn't safe any longer to be in their own home?" Levinski asked. "What that would look like for them to have to go to a new place and start, literally from scratch, with only the things that they were able to carry in their arms."

She added applications to One Refugee have nearly doubled in the past year as awareness of the program grows.

Support for this reporting was provided by Lumina Foundation.

Source: Public News Service