Moved to action by the humanitarian crisis in Syria, a group of islanders is hoping to help immigrants, including refugees, settle on Vashon and is asking the community for assistance as they work to bring a family to the island soon.

The Vashon Immigrant Resettlement Group has been meeting since winter to assess what the island might offer immigrant families and create a plan for how best to proceed. With the assistance of the Seattle-based Women’s Refugee Alliance, members of the group say they are working with a family — a mother, Reema, and her sons, Khalil and Kareem, ages 7 and 8 — who left Syria after their home was destroyed during the civil war. Most recently, the family has been living in Kent, but they would like to live in a more rural community, and they all enjoyed a visit to Vashon last month. The group had secured interim housing, made plans for one of the boys to attend an island soccer camp and was considering arts classes for the other this summer, but the housing arrangement fell through, and the group is looking again to house the family. Now, group members say, if there are islanders who could provide housing for the family — which includes a teenage son, who is still in Syria but is expected to join them — either for free or at a reduced rate, the group would like to hear from them.

Susan Doerr, a semi-retired islander who had a career in health care administration, has been involved with the effort since January and said she joined because she felt that the United States was not doing enough to help the people fleeing their countries.

“My feeling is we should do what we can. This is a small community with many needs. It is not like we can do tons and tons, but we should do something,” she said. “All of us need to be grateful and thankful we live where we live and have what we have.”

She and others, including Mary Rose, one of the leaders of the resettlement group, say they hope to bring other immigrants, specifically refugees, to the island.

“Our goal is several families,” Rose said. “We want to have a bit of a community.”

Doerr and Rose noted that members of the group have reached out to Rotary and are in the process of reaching out to island churches for support to help them achieve their goal, which includes supporting families in several ways — from securing housing, to finding jobs, to teaching English — for a year, with the hope then that they could move to independence. As for the current family in need, group members say Reema is improving her English skills, has a green card and will be able to work in this country. In Syria, she worked as an agricultural engineer.

As group members have shared their vision, they have received mostly positive responses from islanders, they said, though there have been a small number of people who have voiced concerns about helping people from other countries. Doerr said she believes it is not necessary to choose between helping locally versus internationally.

“They are not mutually exclusive,” she said. “This country needs to address problems we have and help other people. We are one world.”

Rose shared a similar sentiment.

“There is a housing shortage here, and we need to be sensitive to the stresses of the community,” she said. “But I think it is critical we offer our hearts and our homes and have the opportunity to learn from people. It is a learning opportunity as well as a heart opportunity.”

While group members have a clear vision for how this community might embrace refugees, they note that resettlement agencies do not typically choose rural islands as new homes for refugees, but rather multi-family homes in urban environments. They note the current model is different than in earlier years, particularly when refugees from Vietnam and Central America were resettled in the United States, and churches and other groups stepped up and offered ongoing support. Resettlement group member Liz Illg said that the former model is the one they are striving for.

“We are trying to present a whole community and welcome people in the old-fashioned way,” she said.

Meanwhile, in Syria, where the human suffering launched this island effort, the civil war is in its sixth year, and currently there are nearly 5 million Syrian refugees. The United Nations High Commissioner on Refugees (UNHCR), Filippo Grandi, has called Syria the biggest humanitarian and refugee crisis of our time, “a continuing cause of suffering for millions which should be garnering a groundswell of support around the world.”

Last fall, President Obama promised that the United States would take 10,000 Syrian refugees in the coming year. The process started out slowly, and so far, slightly more than half that number have been resettled in this country, with a rapid increase in recent months. Washington state, however, has been slow to receive refugees from Syria, with U.S. News & Report indicating there were fewer than 40 in the state last November, including 17 individuals in Seattle. The Seattle Office of Immigrant and Refugee Affairs reports a larger influx of Syrian refugees is not expected until 2017 and notes that refugee resettlement agencies often place families in cities where they already have family or friends.

The worlds’ refugee crisis is at an all-time high, and Doerr said if the Syrian family can find a home here, she would like to see other Syrian families as well, but overall the aim is simply to welcome refugees.

“It is almost overwhelming when you think about the need,” she said.

The refugee resettlement process can take up to two years, according to the Department of Homeland Security. The first step is applying to the UNHCR to obtain refugee status. If specific criteria are met, the individuals undergo extensive background checks before being allowed to enter the United States, which occurs in conjunction with private refugee resettlement organizations. It is one of the those organizations that Vashon’s resettlement group hopes to partner with, and members say they welcome assistance in their efforts.

“If people are interested, we need all the help we can get,” Doerr said.

For more information, to volunteer or make a donation, contact Mary Rose at 425-445-2600 or email her through nbis.org, or contact Erin Durrett at 463-0303 or allmusicissacred@gmail.org.