On December 29, 2021

Refugees to arrive this month

State says Afghan refugees will start to resettle in Rutland over the next few weeks

By Ethan Weinstein

Several families of Afghan refugees will settle in Rutland next month, according to the U.S. Committee for Refugees and Immigrants (USCRI).

USCRI has been coordinating with Rutland organizations, such as Rutland Welcomes and the school system, to prepare for the families. Business leaders are also ready to hire the new Afghani Vermonters once they arrive.

“I think that what we will find is that the people are coming will have skills, and that they will be ready to be hired,” said Lyle Jepson, the executive director of the Chamber & Economic Development of the Rutland Region (CEDRR). “Communication has been very good about what’s happening when it’s going to happen.”

About 80 refugees have already taken up residence in Vermont, and another 80 are expected within the next two months, Amila Merdzanovic, the Vermont USCRI director, told the Rutland Herald.

When the U.S. government pulled armed forces out of Afghanistan in August — ending the 20 year war — it put many Afghans who had assisted the U.S.’s military operation at risk, creating a refugee crisis. More than 70,000 refugees have already moved stateside or will soon resettle in the U.S.

Rutland Welcomes is one of the main organizations involved in the local resettlement process. The group is an informal organization that was first established in 2016 to help support refugees from Syria and Iraq who moved to Rutland. Carol Tashie, one of the group’s organizers, described Rutland Welcomes as a “loosely organized group of people interested in creating a welcoming environment for new Americans joining our community.”

Through their Facebook group and email list, the organization has distributed a spreadsheet outlining items that people can donate. Many of the needed donations have already been received, but more remain. The group has also been successful in finding volunteers to house the new arrivals before they settle into their own apartments.

For more information on how to support Rutland’s refugees, visit facebook.com/groups/rutlandwelcomes.

Do you want to submit feedback to the editor?

Send Us An Email!

Related Posts

Two members, including chair, resign from the Commission on the Future of Public Education in Vermont

June 25, 2025
By Corey McDonald/VTDigger Two members of the Commission on the Future of Public Education in Vermont, including the commission’s chair, announced last week they would be resigning, saying they no longer believed their efforts would make any impact. Meagan Roy, the chair of the commission, and Nicole Mace, the former representative of the Vermont School Boards…

Vt plastic bag use dropped 91% following ban, researchers find

June 25, 2025
In the midst of 2020 Covid measures, another change took place in Vermont: A law went into effect banning businesses from offering plastic bags to customers, with paper bags only available for a fee. A 2023 analysis of a survey of hundreds of Vermonters found the law appeared to have worked. Plastic bag use in…

Pride in Rutland: Flags, resistance, and showing up

June 25, 2025
By Emily Pratt Slatin Pride returned to downtown Rutland this June with more color, noise, and purpose than ever before. What began as a joyful celebration quickly became something deeper—something that felt like resistance. And belonging. And a promise that no one in this community has to stand alone. The day kicked off with the…

Plan to manage 72,000 acres of the Telephone Gap project is finalized

June 25, 2025
Staff report The U.S. Forest Service issued its final plan for managing 72,000 acres of public and private land on June 16. The proposed Telephone Gap Integrated Resource Project area is located on the Green Mountain National Forest (GMNF) within the towns of Brandon, Chittenden, Goshen, Killington, Mendon, Pittsfield, Pittsford, and Stockbridge. “The Telephone Gap project is…