Athens County Sponsor Circle, also known as ACSC, helps refugees from around the world adjust to life in the U.S. through support in many different forms. The organization initially started as a small act of good by a group of friends from Amesville, Ohio.
Founders George Wood and Marcia Burchby were inspired to start ACSC after the couple heard a story on NPR detailing the federal government’s decision to allow private individuals to sponsor refugees. Eager to help support the influx of newcomers to the U.S., Wood and Burchby felt called to action.
“We gathered up some of our best friends and said, ‘Hey, do you guys want to do this with us?’ And everybody we asked said, ‘Yes, count me in,’” said Burchby. “We really did not know what we were getting into at that time, it’s much bigger and more complex than we ever imagined.”
Burchby, Wood and other volunteers began their journey of helping newcomers by opening a chapter of the Sponsor Circle together in Athens County.
The Sponsor Circle Program is a national initiative allowing groups and individuals to form regional Sponsor Circles and support U.S. newcomers by offering guidance, temporary housing credits and eligible benefits. The program allows volunteers to run ACSC as a nonprofit organization.
Since first beginning to sponsor newcomers in April 2022, ACSC has been able to welcome and sponsor 27 individuals and families and plans to maintain that stride through the new year.
Supporting refugees comes in various forms and methods that could be potentially unexpected. From filling out paperwork to identify an individual or family seeking refuge to covering travel costs, sponsoring newcomers usually begins before they set foot on U.S. soil.
ACSC has sponsored newcomers from Afghanistan, Ukraine and Nicaragua since its opening. Sponsored families often follow very different paths once arriving in the U.S.
ACSC has helped families settle in Athens, relocate elsewhere in the U.S. and return to their home countries.
Other citizens of Athens County have also aided in this effort to welcome newcomers to the region.
“All of Athens County has been supportive of these folks,” Wood said. “Neighbors come and help translate, invite (sponsored newcomers) to parties, take them to the library, invite them over for Christmas Eve and support them financially. It’s a whole county-wide effort.”
From driving newcomers to a dentist appointment to helping set up bank accounts and handling travel funds, medical expenses and school enrollment, ACSC volunteers work to accommodate and help relocated individuals settle and flourish in a new atmosphere.
Ryan Tevis, a board member of ACSC, mentioned that the aid provided to newcomers is often beyond physical support.
“The biggest thing is just reassuring people that are in need there are people out there that care about them and want to help them, whatever that help might constitute,” Tevis said. “It might be a permanent place to live and a new community for them to thrive, or just a place to rest for a few months.”
In December, recent newcomer Azalea Suarez held a “Taste of Nicaragua” dinner and hopes to open a restaurant similar to the one she had in Nicaragua. Azalea and her family have been living in Athens and learning English through the assistance of ACSC.
Through the Sponsor Circle, Wood and other ACSC volunteers hope to help newcomers become independent and comfortable with their jobs and homes in the U.S.
With opportunities to donate, volunteer or offer kindness and support, ACSC has multiple ways to assist newcomers in the Athens region on its website.
“Many issues seem far away from home, and you can feel helpless or hopeless,” said Wood. “We can’t change the entire refugee situation, but we can make life better for some people.”
