‘Our neighbors’: Snohomish County has welcomed 2,600 Afghans, Ukrainians

LYNNWOOD — Mohammad Zamir Omar’s son held Van Dinh-Kuno’s hand at a Lynnwood hotel last year.

The boy had arrived there after a long and winding journey from his home country as Taliban forces seized control. He begged the longtime executive director of Refugee and Immigrant Services Northwest for a home.

He asked Dinh-Kuno not to forget his family, she recalled.

The conversation kept Dinh-Kuno, a refugee herself who fled Vietnam decades ago, up that night.

“You can’t say no to the kid,” she said. “I will never disappoint him.”

Months later, she could breathe a sigh of relief when she got the boy, his three brothers and his parents settled into an apartment off Mukilteo Speedway.

“We are making the life and dreams come true,” the father Mohammad Zamir Omar said through an interpreter in an interview this week at his apartment.

The Omars are some of the 2,600 people from Afghanistan and Ukraine who have found a home in Snohomish County since October 2021, officials reported this week.

“In September, everybody was well aware of the fall of Kabul and we knew that refugees would be coming,” said Brian Smith, the CEO of Volunteers of America Western Washington. “We just didn’t know when or in what amount.”

Under the federal Operation Allies Welcome, the state resettled almost 3,300 Afghans, Sarah Peterson, the state refugee coordinator, said in an email.

From January 2022 through last month, Washington welcomed nearly 16,000 Ukrainians, she said. Snohomish County is second only to King County for the number of Ukrainian arrivals.

About 80 families are still coming to Snohomish County each month, Dinh-Kuno noted.

In a typical year, Dinh-Kuno and her team are kept busy resettling about 700 families in Snohomish County. Now multiply that by more than four, she said. Refugee and Immigrant Services Northwest brought in many new staffers. And they’re working long hours.

“We came into this country as refugees or immigrants, so we know how difficult it is in the first 36 months,” Dinh-Kuno said. “And we are committed and put all our efforts to support the newcomers.”

“I’m very, very proud to live in Snohomish County,” she added. “Snohomish County welcomed me and my family years ago, and that tradition’s never fading away.”

‘Safe and happy’

It took a week for Natalia Agaieva and her family to decide to leave Ukraine after the Russian invasion almost a year ago.

It was a decision filled with uncertainty. She was scared.

But now she’s grown comfortable in Snohomish County.

“We live here and sleep here quiet,” said Agaieva, who resides with her mother, husband and two sons, 10 and 6.

Agaieva’s move here was sponsored by her sister, who recalled that experience in The Daily Herald in June.

The Carl Gipson Senior Center became the perfect space for a resource center, said Smith, of Volunteers of America. At the center, newcomers can find case managers, medical and dental screenings and culturally appropriate food, among other services.

At least 425 families have gotten long-term housing, according to the county.

Ahmad Amirzai, the housing stabilization coordinator for Refugees and Immigrant Services Northwest, said the people he works with are thrilled when they can move into a permanent home.

“They have little kids, they have families,” said Amirzai, who lived in Washington without a bed for nearly two years when he moved here from Afghanistan in 2017. “They just want to go and just find their comfort zone.”

Over 1,000 refugees have received help getting a job. More than 2,100 have received clothes and household items. And officials have made over 9,000 referrals for legal services, child care, English learning and other resources.

Local officials have called the Snohomish County effort a model.

“I get everything when I come to this country,” Omar said.

Dinh-Kuno’s organization helped Agaieva’s family with rent as well as getting medical insurance and work authorization.

But Dinh-Kuno warned rental assistance funds are running low after doling out $400,000 to $500,000 per month. The county has allocated almost $3 million for rental assistance, spokesperson Kelsey Nyland said. Future funding would have to come from the state, she said.

Quickly, refugees were flying here from all over the United States after hearing about the welcoming center, Smith said. Friends encouraged the Omars to come to Washington from Florida, for example. The welcoming center will remain open as long as there is need.

“It’s just been amazing,” Smith said. “They’re all completely self-sustaining. They’re now just our neighbors. They’re our friends.”

Agaieva, 36, now works with other Ukrainian arrivals at Refugees and Immigrant Services Northwest, based at Everett Community College.

With similar experiences, she understands their worries. But it’s easier once they get settled here.

“I’m happy for them because they’re safe and happy,” she said this week.

Her husband makes cabinets.

Omar’s sons are now going to school here. He said he’s working for Travis Industries, a Mukilteo-based stove and fireplace company.

His wife Ayasha is pregnant with their fifth child.

Jake Goldstein-Street: 425-339-3439; jake.goldstein-street@heraldnet.com; Twitter: @GoldsteinStreet.