Catholic Charities San Antonio has confirmed they have helped resettle 65 Afghan refugees last week and many more are expected to come to the Alamo City.
The challenge right now is not knowing exactly how many Afghan refugee families will make their way into San Antonio, which makes it difficult to plan exactly what kind of resources need to be available once they arrive.
Fort Bliss in El Paso is one of four military installations in the country receiving Afghan refugees.
So far, there are no flights of refugees scheduled to land at Joint Base San Antonio.
“They are expecting a 24-hour stay and the bases, only for a processing, but they will be sent out into other cities and connected with other agencies so that they can have a more of a semi-permanent housing available for them,” said Damaris Cavazos Fike, a pastor for City Church San Antonio.
MORE DETAILS: Fort Bliss receives Afghans; more Afghans to come
This is one of several churches working with RAICES and Catholic Charities to help Afghan refugees. Fike is expecting refugees to arrive within the next three weeks.
“What is suspected is that many more will be coming to San Antonio, or to Texas really, because other states, they’re having weather crisis whether it’s a hurricane or wildfires in California," Fike said.
But just how many could call San Antonio their new home?
“Right now there is no definite number it could be hundreds it could be thousands, I know the first stop is in different military bases across our nation,” Fike said.
Churches and refugee organizations are having several meetings throughout the week to try to determine exactly what the level of need will be for our city.
Catholic Charities San Antonio is already accepting donations.