Cincy Reporter

A nonprofit religious organization that has a mission to help refugees and immigrants rebuild a sense of home in Cleveland continues helping refugees from Afghanistan find work.

Building Hope in the City operates The Hope Center for Refugees and Immigrants in Cleveland’s West Park neighborhood at 15135 Triskett Road. The Hope Center helps over 250 refugees and immigrants weekly, its website said.

“We befriend refugees and immigrants because of our faith in Jesus, who told us to not only welcome strangers but also treat them as though they are family,” the website said.

Among people the center has helped is Ghulamsayed Sahdid, a refugee from Afghanistan who lives in Middleburg Heights. The center’s career development program is helping Sahdid with skills for a good job, Sahdid told News 5 Cleveland. In six months since August 2021 when the Taliban entered Kabul, Afghanistan, over 74,000 Afghans came to the United States, the International Rescue Committee said.

“This Hope Center is very helpful for us, for not only Afghani people but for all refugee people,” Sahdid told News 5 Cleveland. Sahdid has been taking the citizenship classes for reading and writing.

The Hope Center, which recently noted its seventh anniversary, helps refugees and immigrants with employment, community connections, family mentorship, after-school enrichment and tutoring plus immigration counsel, the website said.

“The Hope Center is truly bridging the gap for newcomers and taking them towards self-sufficiency,” Building Hope in the City said on its Facebook page. “We believe in providing tools and connections to help each person to live up to their God-given potential. … It’s a privilege to help refugees and immigrants such as Ghulamsayed and the thousands more like him rebuild their lives in a new country through a variety of free or low-cost services.”