Chad Pevateaux
Shamsi Family
Chad Pevateaux, the Co-Director of the iACT Refugee Program, was our speaker on December 6th. He told us about his background and how he came to iACT. He then talked by iACT and its mission to cultivate peace and respect through interfaith dialogue, service and celebration. When it comes to refugees, iACT operates an English language program and a youth mentor program. They also belong to the Austin Refugee Roundtable, which works with other groups who assist refugees in the Austin area. Chad told us how our donations last year helped the Mukire family avoid being evicted. The Mukire family is one the Austin Stateman’s Season of Caring families this year. Our family this year is the Shamsi family, who are refugees from Afghanistan, who came to Austin in 2023. Mir Shamsi is an engineer who worked for the U.S. military. After the U.S. withdrawal from Afghanistan, the family fled to Romania. Mir had brain surgery in August and is recovering from that. Shameem is participating in iACT’s English language program. They have two daughters, Ashmah (age 6) and Hafasa (age 4). They need help with rental assistance and could also use a pressure cooker, mixer, and blender, a sewing machine and a large area rug (like 8 x 10) and is also looking for a car. Besides telling us about our refugee family, Chad described the volunteer opportunities available at iACT. Youth mentors are the greatest need, but they can use volunteers to help with their English language classrooms as well. They also have a Hands on Housing program that can always use volunteers. For more information about iACT’s programs go to: www.interfaithtexas.org.