No One Remains a Newcomer
This is the first in a series of Community Spotlights published by Hello Neighbor Network members. These spotlights are an opportunity to get a glimpse into the personal experiences of those who’ve journeyed from their home country to cities and towns across the U.S. and connected with a Hello Neighbor Network member organization.
It wasn’t the death threats that made Reshad Ahmadi leave Afghanistan.
Trained as a civil engineer, Reshad was determined to assist in his country’s reconstruction. He graduated from Kabul Polytechnic in 2010, and by 2011 Reshad was working for U.S. projects in Afghanistan, in quality control assurance. He traveled the country, spending half of his day speaking Persian with project staff, and half of the day in English, relaying his findings to American project supervisors.
“Everybody knew something can happen to you. I was making reports on the quality of the jobs, expenses, the impact on the community. These reports then went to U.S. officials to evaluate,” said Reshad. “I received phone calls threatening my life if I continued to work with the U.S. These were common.”
Then in 2016, Reshad recounted, “I was driving home when an SUV stopped me. Masked men with guns got out of the car.”
Reshad was brutally attacked, but his life was spared. He applied for the Special Immigration Visa, a U.S. government program grants immigration visas to Afghans who have worked for at least two years for the U.S. government and whose lives are at risk. He was lucky — in 18 months he was granted a visa. He, his wife Zulfar, and their two children soon found their way to New York.
One life ends and another begins
Upon arrival, Reshad researched U.S. refugee resettlement and contacted HIAS, which helped him through the initial resettlement process. Reshad and his family received additional support from a community sponsorship team and other groups and individuals active in the local welcoming movement, including Hearts & Homes for Refugees.
Reshad discovered a retraining program for immigrant engineers, and was soon employed back in his field of engineering. Reshad still has two siblings behind in Afghanistan and he worries about them, but he is grateful to be in the United States and to have found a safe haven for his family. “There are all the things that you think of living in a developed society — technology, transportation, the availability of all things,” he said. “But what I especially like here is the kindness of the residents, the respect of multiculturalism, and the quality of the education. The only thing an immigrant like me wants is acceptance and welcoming, then all other challenges can be overcome. Everyone thinks of New York as home after they arrive, no one remains a newcomer or an immigrant.”
Paying it forward
Reshad hopes that others like him, whose safety is at risk in Afghanistan for their work with the U.S. government, will also receive their Special Immigration Visas and have the opportunity to come here. He has become an advocate and volunteer for refugees. He often serves as an interpreter with the refugee community, and is a community leader, guiding newcomers through the cultural adaptation. Reshad also helps raise awareness about refugees in the community at large by sharing his story with schools, synagogues, churches, civic groups and at public events. Pre-COVID, Reshad traveled to Washington DC with Hearts & Homes for Refugees founder Kathie O’Callaghan to participate in Refugee Advocacy Days. In May 2021, he was part of a delegation that met online with Representative Mondaire Jones of New York, advocating for an urgent processing and evacuation of SIV applicants from Afghanistan.
Sharing one’s own story isn’t always easy. Yet stories like Reshad’s are powerful and add a personal dimension to a tangled issue. In a short amount of time, Reshad has become an important part of the Hearts & Homes team and an outspoken supporter of the co-sponsorship model. Hearts & Homes for Refugees was pleased to recommend him for the CORO Immigrant Civic Leadership Program, a New York program designed to provide participants with a deeper understanding of policy and decision making in New York, the skills to lead change in their organizations and communities, and a network of engaged and influential alumni to support them in reaching their goals. Reshad completed the program in May, and we can’t wait to see what Reshad does next!
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