Members of St. Thomas serve the clients of Kentucky Refugee Ministries in a variety of ways, starting with greeting them at the airport.  Often we are the first people they see when they touch down in Louisville.

Most refugees come to their new country with little more than the clothes they are wearing. When they arrive, they need everything that goes into setting up a new home and a new life:  furniture, lamps, beds and bedding, pots and pans, kitchen tools, dishes and silverware, cleaning supplies, soap and other toiletries, clothes, shoes, etc. On occasion, we have purchased appliances such as washers and dryers for the family.

Our volunteers help set up the apartment for each family before they arrive, and make sure they have the things they need to settle in.

We provide developmentally appropriate reading materials to aid the family in their English language acquisition. We also give the family an “English as a Second Language” dictionary.  Through weekly visits, we help the family converse in English.

We often accompany parents to critical appointments and make sure they are able to get to school functions such as Open House or parent/teacher conferences.  We may also accompany the parents and children to register for school.

When possible, we work with KRM to help find appropriate employment for the parents.

More than anything else we do, we show the family that we are glad they are here and that we love them.

If you are interested in volunteering with the St. Thomas KRM committee, please give the church office a call at (502)425-3727.