irc

Source: Fiscal year 2015 served populations by state and country of origin (refugees only), Office of Refugee Resettlement. (Jessica Olsen)

These refugee children are among those helped by Catholic Community Services. The 5K race hopes to raise money to help refugee children. (Catholic Community Services)

With a fixated gaze and cold steel both pressed against his forehead, he heard the voice of the commander say he was free to go. Just minutes before Joseph Nahas and his family had been sleeping in their home in Freetown Sierra Leone. Due to the civil war spreading to the capital city, Nahas and his family were forced to flee their home this same night, leaving behind all possessions. Nahas then carried his pregnant wife Saran into the mountains as gunfire trailed behind them ripping holes through the banana leaves. At this moment Nahas could hardly expect that seeking refuge for his family would eventually take them to Salt Lake City.