(soft music) - [Frances] Move-in day for some Afghan families at Eastern Michigan University.

- There's a lot of challenges to resettling this many people this quickly.

- [Frances] Last summer, Afghans mobbed the Kabul Airport trying to get out, people who'd helped American occupation forces fearing for their lives as the Taliban took control.

Now more than 70,000 are finding new homes across the US.

In Ypsilanti, EMU President James M. Smith realized his school could help.

- It's a think tank out of Washington, DC where a number of university presidents have come together to talk about immigration issues.

We've dealt with everything from DACA to visa problems to welcoming students to our campus in a time where we thought maybe the federal government wasn't quite as welcoming in their messaging.

We immediately, as we were having these discussions with other presidents said you know, we actually do have living environments on our campus that are not fully booked.

- [Frances] EMU connected with Jewish Family Services of Washtenaw County.

- Jewish Family Services is contracted to serve 300 Afghans.

They started arriving in October.

We expect all of our 300 to arrive by mid-February.

That is an unprecedented volume of people.

To the best of my knowledge, there's never been this many people who arrived so quickly.

- This January, more Afghans arrived.

12 families in all are expected, moving in with the help of EMU students.

This is good team effort.

I really appreciate this.

- We work together.

- Just instantly, I was thrown into how can I help?

- The minute we learned about it, we jumped on it as quick as we could to get things moving.

- There's always been opportunities at Eastern to volunteer, but none of them have been as big and important as this one felt.

- It's really cool that we as a local area can help on a national issue.

- [Frances] EMU's motto, All are Welcome Here, can be seen all over campus, serving an international community of students and scholars, a draw for many from diverse backgrounds.

- I've been all over the country.

I have to tell you that this community is something really special.

- [Frances] Student Body Vice President, Auryon Azar, American-born.

His family fled Iran more than two decades ago.

- My family had to overcome ridiculous circumstances in order to be able to make it to this country.

- [Frances] Student Body President Luis Romero's father came to West Michigan from Honduras.

- He came here with nothing and didn't have people like JFS, EM University to give them that actual support.

- This project has awakened a number of really heartfelt stories in our own students.

- [Frances] Lauren London is EMU's General Counsel.

- It's a labor of love for them, truly, to be able to help new families move in, and not just move in, but feel comfortable and feel supported in the environment where they are.

- There's a lot of trauma for the Afghan population because of how quickly they had to leave their country, and they had to leave everything behind.

They came with no mementos, no pictures.

Oftentimes if they did pack things, they were left in the rush at the airport.

- They can speak good English, so we got across, they expressed to me how the living conditions were very difficult back home, and how they just wanted an opportunity to get out.

And when they found the JFS, when they found Eastern, when this opportunity came up, they were very thankful.

They pounced on it, and they're just normal people like me and you.

They just want a chance at life.

- We are also currently working on getting bus passes for the residents here so they're gonna have easy and free transportation around the community.

And then we also are getting some meal swipes and vouchers so they can go to the commons and become a little more integrated into our Ypsilantic, in our Eastern Michigan specifically community.

- Gimme a call if you need me.

- I will, thanks.

- [Frances] 1,300 Afghans are expected to make their homes across the state.

Mira Sussman of Jewish Family Services said the resettlement project still needs help, not just food and monetary support.

- The biggest challenge that we're having, and I hear this all over the country, is housing.

There is no housing stock.

These families are often really large and they need three or four bedroom units.

- You have to imagine when you come from across the world, you're isolated.

Maybe some of your family is still in your home country.

You're worried about them and you don't have anyone to confide in or spend time with.

- [Frances] Auryon Azar has already spent time with some of the new arrivals.

- In our culture, meal sharing is a really, really profound experience.

So things like having the right spices, having the right cookware and having the right space to share while you're having a meal are incredibly important, and so I think that some of us have been able to bring that perspective to this entire move-in process.

- What has been the community's reaction to the refugees?

Has there been any pushback?

- Pushback's been pretty minimal.

The one thing we do hear is there's a lot of people in the community already who need help, who need housing, who need food, who need jobs, and we absolutely empathize with that and totally agree.

But this agency, our job is to work with refugees.

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