Catholic Charities scrambles to prepare for Kosovar refugees

Catholic Charities of Southern Nevada knew Albanian Kosovar refugees might be sent to Las Vegas but the group didn't expect the refugees to begin arriving next week.

Redda Mehari, director of migration and refugee services at Catholic Charities, was at a retreat with his staff preparing for the possibility of refugees when word came Wednesday that the United States will accept 20,000 Kosovars.

"We were at a retreat at Mount Potosi discussing preparations for the possibility of the Kosovar refugees," Mehari said. "We were all on the mountain when it was announced that starting next week 400 refugees a week will be coming to the country, so that doesn't leave us much time to plan."

Right now there is no way to tell how many refugees will be processed in Las Vegas, or when the first groups can be expected to arrive. Mehari says there are a couple of factors which lead him to believe Las Vegas will get it's share of the refugees.

"About three or four years ago we placed Albanian refugees in Las Vegas, and the government will look to send this new group of refugees to places where there is an already an established Albanian community," Mehari said. "We are also ranked in the top five dioceses out of 110 in the nation in placing refugees, so I believe we will see our share this time."

Mehari says his staff plans to use the Albanian community as an anchor to help the new refugees get settled.

"The challenge will be getting them settled, because under normal circumstances refugees go through a very solid orientation before being sent out to the different dioceses, but there just isn't time for that in this instance," Mehari said.

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