Aireys Inlet Rural Australians for Refugees (AIRAR) have rallied their community to come together around a refugee family soon to arrive to the region. Under the Community Refugee Integration and Settlement Pilot (CRISP), the “Bring Them Here” project will see the group support the new arrivals for 12 months.
Coordinator Jules Rolfe thanked attendees of their recent event:
“You have all contributed in big ways and small to support this project, and we will wrap our arms around this family and support them in their new and vastly different life, to help them forge their own paths in this new country, wherever that may take them.”
Local businesses and individual members of the community have helped to raise $30,000 towards Bring Them Here.
“We have dreamed big, and now those dreams are coming to fruition. And we can all rest for the moment, knowing we have done better,” says Rolfe.
A second Aireys-based group is preparing to welcome another refugee family later in the year.
Originally published by James Taylor, Surf Coast Times on March 30 2023