‘Journeys to Refuge’ event, hosted by CCS, will highlight experiences of refugees

Friday, May. 31, 2024

SALT LAKE CITY — Few people know the struggles refugees face acclimatizing to a new country better than Ermina Mustafic-Harambasic and her family. Originally from Bosnia and Herzegovina, Mustafic-Harambasic, her two siblings and her parents were resettled in Utah in 1998 when she was just an infant. So it seems fitting that Mustafic-Harambasic, who is Catholic Community Service of Utah’s Migration and Refugee Services volunteer programs supervisor, should be the organizer of this year’s event to highlight refugees and the organization’s resettlement programs.

 Last year CCS resettled 625 refugees and assisted 1,342 refugees, according to its website.

“The work is extremely important because there’s so many people who have been forced to flee their homes,” Mustafic-Harambasic said. “When we accept them and welcome them and give them the tools that they need to become self-sufficient, they’re able to give back to our communities tenfold. And I think that’s like what me and my family were able to do, and it’s right for all of the families that we resettle.”

This year the event, which is held each June to coincide with World Refugee Month, has been renamed from Forced to Flee to Journeys to Refuge.

“Forced to Flee focused a lot on the plight, which is really important, and we used to cover a lot of the prearrival experience with a mock refugee camp,” Mustafic-Harambasic said. This year “we just thought that it was more appropriate for us to focus on what we specialize in, which is serving clients now and supporting them here. So, we’re trying to focus on clients’ stories of integration and that experience once they arrive, instead of focusing on the flight aspect.”

The event, which will be held June 20 at Liberty Park (east side) from 5 to 8 p.m., will feature interactive stories of five of the agency’s clients. Exhibits also will highlight some of the areas Utah refugees come from, including Afghanistan, Ukraine, the Democratic Republic of Congo and Central America.

“People will be able to interact with the staff and get to know a little bit more about the services and how they can support refugee resettlement here in Salt Lake,” Mustafic-Harambasic said.

The event also will have speakers Nathan Butcher, a youth mentor; Erica Astle, refugee foster care program manager; Alyssa Williams, immigration program manager; and Alexis Arnold, refugee resettlement manager.

Hands-on activities suitable for families will include face painting, a photo booth and the signing of welcome cards that will be given to arriving refugees. Food trucks owned by refugees will offer Middle Eastern food such as shawarma and Middle Eastern hot wings. 

In addition, at the event CCS will collect donations of desperately needed household items such as paper towels, toilet paper and diapers (size 4, 5 and 6). 

“We’ve really been struggling with donations,” Mustafic-Harambasic said. “With our refugee resettlement numbers, we really want to be able to provide everything and we rely on community support for that.”

CCS will also sell items such as baseball caps, reusable tote bags and prints to help raise funds for the organization’s resettlement programs.