Local Lawmaker Calls On Landlords To Help Afghan Families Settle In Northeast Philadelphia
PHILADELPHIA (CBS) -- Some Afghan evacuees have arrived in Philadelphia and are in need of help and a place to live. A local representative is calling on area landlords to help.
Many of these Afghan families arriving here in Philadelphia are helpless, but relief is on its way. There's now an opportunity for them to call Northeast Philadelphia home.
Philadelphia International Airport is the first stop for many Afghan evacuees.
"Imagine coming in, you don't have a job, you don't have family, you don't have financial support," Pennsylvania State Rep. Jared Solomon said.
But where do they go from there?
"If you are a landlord who is willing to step up, welcome in those who supported our servicemembers downrange overseas, call my office," Solomon said.
In the heart of Northeast Philadelphia, Rep. Solomon says, in collaboration with nonprofits, they are looking to give these families a helping hand.
"This is a great way to add a new group of people to the civic and social fabric of Northeast Philadelphia, working towards the same goal of providing housing and other supports to new Afghan refugees," Solomon said.
Through available state and local dollars, rental assistance for up to six months will be paid out to area landlords who are willing to provide housing to Afghan families.
"We're doing it because it's the right thing to do," real estate developer Stuart Toben said.
Toben owns Toben Real Estate.
"We have people in need, they need a place to live and they need a place quickly. A fairly large percentage of the population in Northeast Philadelphia are new immigrants," Toben said.
Back at Rep. Solomon's office, he says more than 700 Afghan families currently live in the Northeast. Now it's time to make room for more.
"They get a job, they get on their feet and then hopefully they choose Northeast Philadelphia to remain," he said.
Rep. Solomon will give more details at a news conference Tuesday morning.