Afghan refugee family with 13 kids may lose their home — and a nonprofit is asking for help

Several pairs of shoes lay scattered by the front door. An ornate rug gifted during Eid al-Fitr compliments the dark green sectional in the living room. Steam rises from tall silver pots on the kitchen stove, the smell of rice wafting through the air.

Rahmatgul Safi and his wife's house is quiet on a Friday afternoon — at least for now. At any moment, they know their 13 children will barge through the door, their laughter, footsteps and bouncing backpacks breaking the silence.

For nearly a year, the couple and their children — most of whom were among the hundreds of Afghan refugees who resettled in Iowa last year after the collapse of their country's government — have called West Des Moines home. But a local nonprofit leader working with the Safi family says they are on the brink of being displaced again and losing their rental home as its original owners plan to sell the place.

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Tina Neustrom, president of the local nonprofit Refugee Community Assistance, said the family has until June 30 to find another home, and she is turning to the community for help.

Refugee Community Assistance is hosting a fundraiser on May 18 at the Valley Community Center, 4444 Fuller Road in West Des Moines. The event runs from 5:30 to 7 p.m. and will include a silent auction and a chance to meet the Safi family and learn more about Afghan culture, food and tradition, she said.

The organization recently launched a GoFundMe page with a goal of raising $350,000. The hope is to collect enough money so the family could purchase their own home, Neustrom said.

"It's so hard to find a rental option for 15 people. There's just not a lot of options out there," Neustrom said. "Some people are saying, 'Oh, you should maybe get two apartments' or something like that. But this is a family, you know. They need to be together in a home. They're so tight-knit."

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People also can donate money by sending checks or using the Zelle mobile app. Checks should be made payable to the Refugee Community Assistance and sent to Lisa Stratton, the nonprofit's director. Her mailing address is 1161 23rd St. West Des Moines, IA 50266.

Those interested in using Zelle must include the nonprofit's email address refugeecommunityassistance@gmail.com.

Safi and his family first arrived in the U.S. in February 2022 — just months after the Taliban took control of Afghanistan's government and U.S. troops withdrew from the country. The couple, who at that time had 12 children and was expecting another one, sought assistance from Lutheran Services in Iowa but struggled to find the support and resources.

Safi previously told the Des Moines Register there were days when they went without food or spent weeks searching for soap and shampoo. They spent those first few months in the Des Moines metro shuffling from one Airbnb to the next until they found the rental home in West Des Moines, Neustrom added. On top of that, the family has had to endure the slow application process for a green card, Safi said.

In the months since, Neustrom said she's stepped in to help the family while Safi recovers from a spinal cord injury. Safi, who worked for the U.S. military in Afghanistan, was injured in a car bombing while working a security role for the U.S. Air Force at a base in his home country, Neustrom said.

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Most of the Safi children, who range in age from 1 to 21, are now enrolled in schools, and some even have jobs. Neustrom said she's now looking forward to helping the older children get their driver's licenses.

"We want to really help them this year. We just feel like there's such a huge need, and they don't have a lot of options," Neustrom said. "They're doing so well. We just want to help them."

Editor's note: This story has been updated to correct the number of children in the Safi family.

F. Amanda Tugade covers social justice issues for the Des Moines Register. Email her at ftugade@dmreg.com or follow her on Twitter @writefelissa.

This article originally appeared on Des Moines Register: How to help Afghan refugees in West Des Moines who may lose their home