The Good Neighbor Team provides resettlement assistance to refugees. Currently we are working with a family of three who are Christians from Eritrea.

The first few months in the United States are the most intensive for refugees and immigrants. To ease the transition, the Good Neighbor Team is serving the newly arriving refugee family by supplying material needs such as food, clothing and transportation, and tangible services like community orientation, job preparation and English tutoring. The Good Neighbor Team also recognizes the importance of offering even greater gifts to the refugee family. By valuing the stories, dreams and contributions of the newcomers, we are extending the gifts of friendship, belonging, and acceptance to them as they enter an unfamiliar world.

The Good Neighbor Team gives new arrivals a greater sense of belonging in their new community.

Service Opportunities
We NEED YOU!!! We are looking for individuals/families who are willing to become a part of a meaningful opportunity to rebuild lives and strengthen the community. If you have a passion for people, you can assist us with the following:

Transportation Liason

Drive or coordinate getting transportation to appointments: Medical, Social Services, Social Security, ESL classes and grocery shopping as needed.

Healthcare Advocate

Assist with identifying and enrolling the family in an insurance program.

Keep track of doctors’ visits and attend visits with them. (The Baltimore Medical System has Tigrinya translators so it’s not as scary as it may sound, praise God!!!)

Education Orientation / Encourager

The family’s first language is Tigrinya and is in the process of learning English. They are registered for English as a Second Language (ESL) classes and we need volunteers who will assist with English tutoring. No formal training is needed. We just need volunteers to visit them, build a relationship, speak English to them, go over their ESL homework and watch a language learning video for a half hour to an hour at a time.

Shopping and Cultural Coaching

Take them grocery shopping and teach them basic healthy eating habits and informally introduce them to American produce & products.

Clothing – winter is coming, what do they have and what is needed? Are there other kitchen items or household items that are needed? Check out thrift stores etc. to meet some of these needs and to also encourage wise and careful spending.

Relationship Building

We need volunteers to be a friendly face and to build a friendship. The family has a young child who needs interaction with other children and a change of scenery, seeing that they are in the home the whole day without transport. 

We need one or two men to build a relationship with the dad and visit him on a weekly/bi-weekly basis during the morning.

Finance/Budgeting

The goal is to get the family to be self-sufficient. We need someone to help the family on drafting a budget, managing resources and begin building a credit history. (A male needs to take the lead in this area.)

Vehicle Needed

The Family needs their own vehicle to become independent. First, we need someone who can help with the administration of getting a license and/or teaching to drive.

To follow-up with Vehicles for Change – to get specifics on how much a reliable vehicle (such as Toyota with proven service records) would cost. This organization seems to do a good job in servicing their vehicles well and pass inspections upon the transfer of ownership.

Contact: 
Dan Passerelli: 443-799-2736   •   dpasserelli@chapelgate.org
Heleen Oosthuizen:  (667) 225-0895   •   Oosthuizen.Heleen@gmail.com