WISCONSIN (NBC 26) -- Tonight American leaders are working to get our allies safely out of Afghanistan. In the capital of Kabul, the US military has worked to secure the airport and ramp up operations to evacuate as many as 9-thousand people a day.
And as refugees seek safety, organizations in Wisconsin are ready to step in. Tonight, two local non-profits that help refugees get on their feet after coming to America have expressed how if Afghan refugees land in Wisconsin, they are ready to help.
Thousands of Afghans are trying to escape the Taliban and even in northeastern Wisconsin, many fear for their safety.
"I'm just sad, afraid, fearful for the people who are left over there," says Tami McLaughlin the Director of World Relief Fox Valley.
"You have people fleeing for their lives because there is no peace in that particular country," adds Adan Hurre a service provider at COMSA in Green Bay.
Both McLaughlin and Hurre both specialize in helping refugees land on their feet when they arrive in Wisconsin. And with tens of thousands of Afghans trying to flee their country right now, it's hard for them to grasp what those citizens must be going through.
"I cannot comprehend or even fathom what they are going through. Leaving behind everything that you know; relatives, language, community," adds Hurre.
"So having left your country, everything you own, everything you know, who you are, your profession. It's hard to get it down to that level of understanding," adds McLaughlin.
After enduring a heavily screened immigration process some of the refugees may be relocated to fort McCoy, located just west of Tomah, Wisconsin. And while their services weren't called on yet, both COMSA and World Relief Fox Valley representatives say they're ready to help those refugees in any way they can.
"Often it changes the hearts and minds of our community when we realize that these people have so much to offer. They bring a vibrancy, a resilience, and a perspective that we often need to hear about and often need to know," says McLaughlin.
"If they are in Green Bay and need our services, we'll be more than happy to help them," says Hurre.
