wfn.org | UMCOR to assist Kosovar refugees in U.S.

[NewsDesk <NewsDesk@UMCOM.UMC.ORG>]

May 7, 1999 News media contact: Linda Bloom*(212) 870-3803*New York
10-21-71B{259}

New York (UMNS) - The United Methodist Committee on Relief (UMCOR) will be
among the agencies helping to place the Kosovar refugees coming to the
United States.

The first 453 of the anticipated 20,000 refugees arrived May 5 in New
Jersey. The Kosovar Albanians, who had come from camps in Macedonia, were
expected to remain at Fort Dix for three to six weeks before being released
to relatives or sponsoring agencies.

Church-based agencies are expected to get about eight percent of the 20,000
refugees for placement. UMCOR could be assigned up to 200 of that number.

"The people who are coming are going to be families," Susan Wersan, UMCOR's
program coordinator for refugee ministries, said in a May 6 interview. Those
families may have some special needs, she added, such as assistance with
medical problems or psychological distress.

The agency is encouraging local congregations, rather than individuals, to
sponsor families. "Then there's an adequate basis of support for a family,"
she explained.

UMCOR can only resettle refugees in areas where there is an affiliate office
of the Church World Service Immigration and Refugee Service. Interested
congregations should contact those offices. A listing is available on the
World Wide Web at http://gbgm- umc.org/global/refugees/resettle.html.

United Methodists also can help support UMCOR's work with the Kosovar
refugees by making donations to UMCOR's Global Refugee Response, Advance No.
982540-1. Checks can be placed in church collection plates or mailed to
UMCOR at 475 Riverside Dr., Room 330, New York, NY 10115. 
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