Many of the Afghans displaced by the Taliban takeover of Kabul in 2021 found refuge in the United States through Operation Allies Welcome (OAW) and the ongoing Operation Enduring Welcome (OEW) Response. OAW was an interagency initiative that coordinated efforts across the federal government, military, state and local governments, NGOs, and private partners to manage the resettlement of nearly 90,000 Afghans. As Afghan newcomers began arriving in the U.S. in 2021 amidst the COVID-19 pandemic, resettlement agencies worked alongside federal offices, healthcare systems, public health departments, social service providers, and community-based organizations to provide much-needed help.
Resettled Afghans are acclimating to life in the United States, enriching their new communities, securing public benefits, and seeking opportunities for their families. They are experiencing ongoing challenges related to the trauma of sudden displacement and navigating complex systems like health care as English-language learners.
Overcoming Barriers to Community Building and Well-being for Afghan Women Newcomers
Newcomer women, especially those from Afghanistan, often face unique and significant challenges in their resettlement process, including social isolation, a lack of access to culturally relevant support systems, and limited opportunities for community building. These barriers can profoundly impact their mental health, well-being, and overall integration into their new communities. Afghan women may encounter difficulties in navigating the U.S. healthcare system because of language barriers, unfamiliarity with preventative care, cultural considerations in seeking female providers, and a lack of access to technology for scheduling appointments. Addressing these multifaceted challenges and enabling Afghan women to build connections, access resources, and make informed decisions about their and their families' well-being requires focused support.
IRC San Diego's Women's Resilience Center
The International Rescue Committee (IRC) in San Diego recognized the need for a dedicated space for newcomer women to find community, as well as access to resources and information. To meet this need, they established the Women’s Resilience Center (WRC) in 2020 to provide a welcoming space for newcomer women and girls to gather and take part in IRC programs that aim to provide education and holistic services to women and girls.
The IRC WRC in San Diego is a tailored space that provides a welcoming environment for newcomer women and girls to gather, build community connections, and participate in various programs. It is a hub where they can seek, share, and get information on their rights in their new country and receive information on safety, health, education, and economic well-being. This space holds in-person programming that is 80–90% in-language for participants. The WRC includes an area for children to play, a sewing and craft area, and a comfortable living room space to gather. This allows the women to feel comfortable bringing their children while participating in programming and socializing with other participants.
The National Resource Center for Refugees, Immigrants, and Migrants (NRC-RIM) funded Afghan Health Promotion Program is one of the various programs housed within IRC San Diego’s WRC which provides services that extend beyond those solely available for Afghan women. Housing the NRC-RIM Afghan women’s program within the WRC provides additional resources and access to vital services, reinforcing the program’s commitment to women’s holistic development and well-being available to all newcomer women. To develop programming that would meet the Afghan community’ needs, IRC staff helped establish an Afghan Advisory Group made up of a general physician, Afghan IRC staff, and female clients from the community to determine the focus and content of programs offered to WRC participants. IRC intentionally hired female Afghan staff to ensure that programming was linguistically and culturally congruent with WRC participants.
Two key examples of NRC-RIM-funded projects that provide culturally relevant support and education for Afghan women are Dialogue with Doctors and Maternal Support Groups.
- "Dialogue with Doctors": This project connects Afghan women with local Afghan doctors to address common questions about the U.S. healthcare system and women's issues. Through a series of six sessions, Afghan women receive linguistically accessible and culturally relevant information from trusted community members.
- Maternal Support Groups: These groups offer Afghan mothers and pregnant women opportunities to build community, socialize, and learn about health and wellness concerns that impact their health and that of their children and families. Local service and health providers conduct educational sessions on topics chosen by the women themselves. Topics included car seat safety, child nutrition, child sexual exploitation prevention, and lead poisoning. The maternal support groups promote active engagement with local health services, provide additional health education, and create a gathering space for Afghan women outside their homes.
Creating a Welcoming and Culturally Sensitive Environment
The IRC in San Diego considered cultural considerations around maintaining a strictly women- only space, including facilitators or speakers invited to share resources or education on topics of interest to ensure the comfort of and increase access for Afghan women. IRC staff recognize the need to create a culturally inclusive and safe space for women and girls. Therefore, special measures were taken, including rules and guidelines for the space that all agree to, including a rule that no men are allowed in the space. Because of this, many Afghan women in San Diego recognize this as a "safe space," and IRC San Diego staff work to create an atmosphere of community connectedness where women and girls can build relationships and create friendships.
The team demonstrates dedication to meeting clients' needs beyond healthcare education and healthcare navigation support by coupling the distribution of key donations based on the subject matter presented in "Dialogue with a Doctor" and Maternal Support Groups. For instance, after a car seat safety Maternal Support Group session hosted by the Pacific Safety Center, IRC secured age and weight-appropriate car seats for participants. Staff secured donations through external partnerships, bolstering the center's activities and illustrating a commitment to comprehensive care and community support.
Incorporating Clients' Preferences and Feedback
To further increase the accessibility and relevance of Women’s Resilience Center programs, all topics and programs are developed using feedback from participants and those participating in the Afghan Advisory Group. Because some participants are pre-literate, IRC in San Diego receives feedback from the participants by using audio clips, easily understandable visuals, and one-to-one surveys conducted verbally.
Success Factors
While this promising practice highlights two key NRC-RIM-funded programs at the WRC, the lessons learned, and successful factors pertain to the larger WRC space, which houses various other activities and caters to populations beyond Afghans.
- Creating a culturally informed safe space for Afghan women: Creating a space exclusively for women and their children allows Afghan women to comfortably engage in activities and build community in a culturally responsive way. Bringing this comfort into a space for new arrivals allows them to create relationships and build community—a known factor in increasing well-being and improving mental health.
- Hiring staff with shared language and lived experience of program participants: The staffing strategy at the IRC’s WRC is community-centered. Hiring women from the community plays a crucial role in program success by ensuring linguistic accessibility, cultural congruence, and easy pathways for outreach, all of which build trust and a sense of familiarity.
- Community-led programming: Having an advisory board with community members to guide programming decisions ensures successful, community-responsive programming.
- A proactive approach to hosting women presenters: IRC staff prioritizes hosting women healthcare providers who speak participants' preferred languages to deliver presentations on various health and wellness topics.
Impact of the WRC
In the fiscal year 2023 (October 2022 to September 2023), the WRC served 91 members from various refugee, migrant, and immigrant communities, demonstrating its broad reach. The center's programming includes weekly yoga classes (averaging 14-8 attendees), English Conversation Café sessions (averaging 11 attendees), financial literacy and business workshops (8 participants), and sewing cohorts (55 participants across 4 cohorts). The annual needs assessment, conducted with 30 women between October 2022 and September 2023, revealed that 96% of women felt their voices were heard in WRC decision-making. Importantly, 88% of participants reported improvements in positive identity, emotional well-being, healthy relationships, learning, and decision-making. The WRC's impact is further evidenced by a 50% increase in participation from 2022 to 2023. Women reported a significant increase in community connectedness, highlighting the center's fostering of social bonds.
The two NRC-RIM projects housed within WRC also showed notable success:
- For the September to October 2023 "Dialogue with Doctors" series, 41 unique participants were reached and 29 individuals who responded to the survey indicated 100% satisfaction with the services, confirmed they were likely to use the information learned, and believed the information was relevant to their needs.
- Regarding the maternal support group sessions, post-survey responses (Sept-Oct 2023) showed an overwhelmingly positive response, with 98% of participants (n=56) finding the information relevant or highly relevant, and 96% (n=54) feeling confident or highly confident about the presentation topics.
Nazi, the WRC facilitator, highlighted the positive feedback from clients, stating, "Each month and each topic, there were [Afghan] clients who expressed how glad they are that they are in the [NRC-RIM Maternal Support] groups, how happy they are that we covered that topic."
