Three years ago, when Kabul fell to the Taliban and thousands of Afghans, many having served alongside American service members for nearly 20 years, were forced to flee for their safety, the United States was also faced with a monumental challenge of welcoming 80,000 of our Afghan allies through a resettlement framework that had been decimated by budget cuts and a decrease in refugee admissions.

The resulting situation could have easily overwhelmed our resettlement infrastructure — which had welcomed just over 11,000 people in fiscal year 2020 — but it didn’t. Instead, Americans in every corner of the country raised their hands offering to help Afghan families find safety and rebuild their lives. What began as a response to an urgent humanitarian crisis has since evolved into a new way of welcoming refugees, one that taps into the goodwill and generosity of businesses, faith communities, veterans and everyday Americans.

The success of this grassroots model in resettling our Afghan allies has ultimately paved the way for private sponsorship initiatives for additional vulnerable populations and has ultimately reshaped our refugee infrastructure into one that is more prepared to respond to the current global displacement crisis.

In fact, amid the growing international instability and conflict in just the last year, the government has once again turned to the American people. Launched in January 2023 by the U.S. Department of State, the Welcome Corps is a service opportunity that empowers everyday Americans to welcome refugees arriving through the U.S. Refugee Admissions Program (USRAP) and play a direct role in their resettlement. Together, sponsor groups made up of five or more friends, neighbors, and community members help and support refugees from around the world as they integrate into new communities. Importantly, the program also provides eligible Afghans who served with American troops a pathway to permanent legal status in the United States.

Volunteerism has always been an essential part of welcoming newcomers to our country, but until recently, decisions about how many refugees the United States would take in any given year, from where, and how much initial support they would receive have been constrained by an overburdened resettlement system. The selection of refugees is based on the risks and needs of the refugees themselves and resettlement is carried out through a public-private partnership involving negotiations between federal agencies, the UNHCR, state and local authorities, and domestic not-for-profit organizations (NGOs). Many of these NGOs have operated on shoestring budgets as they have carried out the vital work of welcoming refugees to the United States. With the introduction of Welcome Corps, we are not only reviving flows of vetted refugees to the United States, but we are beginning to reimagine the country’s refugee resettlement system in a way that allows for greater involvement of the American public and respects the rights of those who are forcibly displaced.

Community-led resettlement through the Welcome Corps will not solve all of the world’s migration challenges, but it can play a small but meaningful role in making life better for many. Veterans can reunite with endangered foreign comrades and work together in civilian life. Former Peace Corps volunteers can put their language skills to use as they sponsor refugees from places where they served in more peaceful times. Friends and neighbors can help a newly arrived family get outfitted with everything from job placement and housing to school supplies and pediatricians.

Today, the state of the world’s refugees is among the most visible and persistent challenges to humanity. In June, the U.N. Refugee Agency (UNHCR) released its annual Global Trends Report, which found that 120 million people, or 1 in every 65, are currently forcibly displaced worldwide, marking the 12th consecutive annual increase. The root causes of this ever-growing global displacement emergency are clear and conclusive, but what we can do about these often overlapping crises might be less obvious.

Engaging Americans in the resettlement process works — refugees from many different places and with different backgrounds can successfully restart their lives in our country supported by their new community. Through Welcome Corps, sponsorship groups can identify for resettlement refugees with whom they have pre-existing links or relationships. But this is not necessary for sponsor groups to resettle a refugee, and the bulk of U.S. refugee resettlement efforts, based largely on judgments about vulnerability and not ties to Americans, must continue and thrive.

Three years after the evacuation of Afghanistan began, there are still Afghan families living abroad and in need of safety. Through the Welcome Corps, those feeling overwhelmed by news of rising global tensions, war, oppression and natural disasters that are harming too many people, now have yet another way — a powerful, potentially life-changing way — to do something to help.

Anne C. Richard and Eric Schwartz each served as assistant secretary of state for population, refugees and migration during the Obama administration (Schwartz from 2009-2011 and Richard from 2012-2017). Richard is now a senior adviser at Freedom House writing in her personal capacity and Schwartz is a professor and dean emeritus of the Humphrey School at the University of Minnesota.