Dear First name / Great Neighbor, 

 

This week, many of our newcomer families lost their Medicaid coverage after a federal budget law passed in 2025—known as H.R. 1 or the "One Big Beautiful Bill Act"—ended health benefits for many legal noncitizens who do not have green cards.

 

Many newcomers we work with who arrived in the United States as far back as 2023 have yet to become Lawful Permanent Residents and receive their green cards though they applied for them after living here one year—exactly when they were supposed to according to U.S. Citizenship & Immigration Services.

 

There is nothing wrong with their application. These are highly vetted refugees who have waited years and years to come to the United States. The problem is that the green card application process has been heavily delayed or paused for those arriving after 2021.This means that many newcomers, by no fault of their own, do not yet have green cards and how have lost Medicaid coverage putting a terrible burden on their families.

 

I bring this to your attention because our staff and volunteers are deeply frustrated on behalf of the newcomer families we know. This is just one more hurdle to jump through for those who have already endured so much.

 

We are grateful to UVA Health for continuing to offer temporary care to many of these families while we wait to see what happens next.

 

 

In this month’s IN Short newsletter, you will read about Safia, an Afghan girls’ middle school teacher who left her home country in 2023 along with her adult children, several of whom are physicians, dentists and engineers. I think you’ll be inspired to say the least.

 

You’ll also read about our fall coat drive, and a former IN staff member’s documentary film premiering in New York City this month!

 

I hope this October you’ll consider making a gift, volunteering with us, or dropping off some winter gear to Peace Frogs Travel/Outfitters. Thank you for joining us and for being a Great Neighbor to the newcomers in Charlottesville.

 

With all my gratitude,

Kari Anderson Miller, CEO and Founder

We met Safia, an Afghan newcomer, when she began attending STEPS—our monthly women's support group meetings last year at the International Neighbors office. Slowly, an incredible story began to emerge about her life, often during car rides to and from the meeting and with Google Translate as a tool of understanding. 

 

Safia came to the United States after she, her husband and her adult children fled Afghanistan. The Taliban had taken control of the country, closing the girls school where Safia was a teacher for grades 6-9. “Girls were told they couldn't go to school,” Safia says. “So we began teaching them in homes.” Safia recalls girls walking with books hidden as they traveled to each other's homes where teachers were waiting. 

 

“My mother is amazing,” says Safia's daughter Atifa, a dentist in Afghanistan and now dental assistant in the U.S. while she studies to take the dental exam. “When the Taliban closed the school, my mother argued with those men. She told them, ‘Our holy book wants girls to get an education.’”

 

As part of a prominent family—Safia's husband worked for the Department of Public Health in Afghanistan, some of her six children were employed as cardiologists, dentists, and engineers—it became dangerous for the family to remain in the country. Thus began a journey that would take the family to three different countries in under 2 ½ years, finally arriving in the United States.

 

Safia says she is still in contact with the girls from the Afghan school as well as some of her co-workers and encourages them to keep learning from home and continue to stay active. Safia finds fulfillment now in her family, both children and grandchildren that she helps care for. She is looking for more social activities outside of her home, is learning English and hopes to make many new connections. 

We are proud to announce that former International Neighbors staff member Gentry Faith Wilson is premiering her new film Raised in New York City on October 18th! Raised is an exploration of how people cope with lifelong displacement in the face of a growing aid gap. The film is a deeply human story of the pursuit of purpose, the reclamation of dreams, and creative initiatives of hope that rise from within displaced communities – all through chess. We are thrilled to support the film in its global premiere at the Chelsea Film Festival on October 18th! 

 

Follow the film & the impactful work behind it at @raisedfilm on Instagram and stay tuned for a future showing right here in Charlottesville. 

Collect your gently used winter coats for Peace Frogs Travel/Outfitters Winter Coat Drive! Drop off coats from October 23 - November 6 at Peace Frogs Travel/Outfitters at 1043 Millmont Street. Children's coats are particularly needed. Coats will be distributed to newcomer families on November 7th. Thank you!

Our fall volunteer information session & training registrations are open! We'd love for you to join us on one of the following dates to learn more about our vision, mission and ways you can join us in the work of welcoming newcomers to Charlottesville. Volunteer trainings are held over Zoom and fall dates and times are:

 

Tuesday, November 10 from 6-7:30pm

Thursday, December 3 from 9-10:30am