ECDC
MARSHFIELD, WI (WSAU-WAOW) – Wisconsin is now home to 80,000 refugees, and now, the newest family will call Marshfield home.
“I’m just excited to see how Marshfield’s gonna look in a year, I mean I really am.” said Stacey Schultz, Executive Director of the Marshfield Community Foundation.
Preparing to welcome their first family very soon, those involved said it’s an exciting time. “It’s gonna be good for Marshfield.” said Schultz, “It’s only gonna help our town, it’s gonna help with jobs, and it’s gonna help show our youth that we’re welcoming, and I think it’s all positive for us.”
The families arriving are refugees from the Republic of the Congo, and many are more than enthused to help make them feel at home.
“We have an apartment all ready to go and we’ll go from there.” said Schultz.
The Ethiopian Community Development Center asked people to help. “You’re the folks that are welcoming them into the community, making them know they have neighbors.” said Eric Yonke, Co-Sponsorship Coordinator.
They said they’re always in need of more volunteers to help out with a number of things, including ESL tutoring, transportation, and other areas. “It’s really the volunteers that are the eyes and ears and can communicate and say hey this is not working or hey we can do this for the family, when you look to build a compassionate community it’s that way.” said Yonke.
Team leaders said they just want to set an example for their children and the future generation.
The family of four will arrive in Marshfield on September 30th, and a family of ten will be arriving October 7th.
Comments