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The Iyad Family’s Journey with SCN
Iyad Family - Mother (Amal) and Father (Hasan) in background and kids Shams, Ahmed, and Jamil in foreground
The Iyad* family first arrived in the United States in 2016. Hasan and Amal made the heartbreaking decision to leave Syria to protect their children Shams, Jamil, and Ahmed. When they first came to SCN, they had many questions about how to rebuild their lives here.
We first welcomed the Iyad family to SCN by
enrolling them in our Case Management program
to ensure their basic needs were met.
SCN spends ~$550 per person for one year of Case Management. The impact for a family can be $16,000-$21,000 annually through access to critical public benefits.
They spoke with our Senior Case Manager, Amr, who asked them more about their needs and explained how we can help manage their public benefits. He re-enrolled everyone in Medicaid so that they continued to receive healthcare. He also renewed their SNAP to continue their access to food. Hasan had worked in the hospitality industry in Syria. Amr helped him to revise his resume, and Hasan got a job in a restaurant while attending night classes at the local community college.
Amr (right) shakes hands with a community member (left) after completing a Case Management session.
Next, we made sure that the kids’ educational needs were met.
Across all youth programs, SCN spends ~$1,400 per child. The average annual cost in Chicago for afterschool care is $4,000 per child!
Shams and Jamil joined our Afterschool Program. They attend four days a week during the school year. Our teacher, Emily, leads lessons on social-emotional skills while our volunteers help them with homework and crafts. Shams’ favorite game is Uno. This spring, Ahmed was old enough to enroll in Kindergarten. Amal connected with our Education Manager, Samira, to receive support in the enrollment process. He started school this August, and Amal continues to come to SCN’s monthly parent workshops.
Student drawing in our 2021 Summer Camp.
After five years of living in the U.S., Hasan and Amal
are eligible to become American citizens!
SCN spends ~$400 per person in our Immigration program, and participants save $1,500+ in deferred application and attorney fees.
SCN’s Immigration Director, Al, worked with Hasan and Amal to collect all of the required documents and completed their application for naturalization. While they are waiting for their interview, they are taking part in SCN’s Citizenship Preparation class. They both get to keep the textbook and workbook with all of the information needed to study for the exam. Once they have naturalized, Al can also apply for the kids to receive citizenship too.
Two of our community members after their naturalization ceremony!
And now, we are welcoming Amal’s brother and his family
to the United States as newly arrived refugees!
Family sitting together, mother, father and 3 sons.
While we are still working alongside the Iyad family, we are so excited to have more newcomers arriving this year. Amal’s brother and his family arrived only a few short weeks ago, and the process of supporting and connecting a family to critical resources begins again!
We now serve over 800 refugees and immigrants annually and anticipate working with more than 300 Afghans this year. At SCN, we will continue to expand our capacity to meet the needs of newcomers. We hope that you will consider how you can expand your capacity to support our work today.

*The Iyad Family is representative of a multitude of our families’ experiences.
Syrian Community Network | www.syriancommunitynetwork.org
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