As Syrian refugee Mohammad Abbara and his family were making their way to St. Louis on Tuesday, an apartment in the city’s West End neighborhood was being prepared for them.

Bill Patterson of Des Peres was snapping together bed frames. Alicia Bawa of St. Peters was wiping down counters and putting away silverware and plates in the kitchen.

Earlier in the day, Patterson and Bawa were at a Shop ‘n Save along with another volunteer, Annie Russell of Webster Groves, buying a day’s worth of groceries for four refugee families, all hours away from arriving. In addition to Abbara, his wife and their five children, three other families were about to land in St. Louis, from Syria, Sudan and Somalia.

In all, 26 new Americans arrived in the Gateway City, a place they knew only as a part of the U.S., a country promising a hopeful future.

This time of year is when refugee resettlement is the busiest in the U.S. And with President Barack Obama announcing in September that he would bump to 85,000 from 70,000 the number of refugees accepted into the U.S. this year — 10,000 of them from Syria — St. Louis is seeing a higher-than-usual number of refugees.

The International Institute of St. Louis, the region’s largest refugee resettlement agency, has sponsored about 650 refugees annually the past few years. In 2016, the number is expected to reach 965 and could go as high as 1,400 next year.

To help with resettlement, the institute relies on volunteers, about 70 a week. However, with the influx driven by the Syrian refugee crises comes the need for twice as many volunteers, who help with a wide range of assistance. That includes helping set up apartments.

Or as volunteers with the institute like to say: making a house a home.

“Everything in their life is turned upside down,” said a retired Patterson, as he put together beds in a three-bedroom apartment. Whole families boarding a plane to travel thousands of miles to a foreign land with little more than blind faith.

“It boggles the mind,” Patterson said.

Providing the basics

The International Institute typically gets seven to 14 days notice from the State Department that a refugee family is on its way to St. Louis.

What happens next is part of a highly orchestrated process involving a cadre of volunteers — one that adheres to strict federal guidelines that precisely define how much assistance refugees are afforded and for how long.

It begins with housing.

The International Institute immediately begins searching for an apartment, tapping longtime relationships it has with landlords in St. Louis, primarily in the South City ZIP codes of 63116 and 63118.

Refugee families are often large, and finding affordable apartments with at least three bedrooms is challenging. Also, the landlord has to agree to rent to someone who does not have a work history, a credit score or references.

The institute has been placing more refugees into a sprawling apartment complex on Hodiamont Avenue, in the city’s West End neighborhood just off North Skinker Parkway.

It’s where volunteers on Tuesday were prepping apartments for four families. As part of the U.S. resettlement program, sponsoring agencies such as the International Institute must provide basics for each family, from larger items such as a kitchen table and beds to laundry detergent, toilet paper and toothpaste. Many of the items are donated. However, mattresses must be new.

The institute’s housing department pulls together the items. Then volunteers are brought in to unpack the dishes, make the beds and stock the bathroom closet.

Volunteers also go to the supermarket to buy a 24-hour supply of food. They are given a stock list of items to buy. It includes vegetables such as cabbage and carrots along with chicken or fish — depending on a refugee’s culture and religion — bread, eggs and milk.

“Families often arrive late at night, and the only thing they want to do is sleep,” said Suzanne LeLaurin, senior vice president of programs for the institute.

The institute receives an initial allowance from the federal government to assist new refugees, but the money does not cover all bills. For example, a family of four receives $4,500 to cover early expenses including rent and utilities for three months. But the costs are closer to $5,480, a difference of $980. Cash and donated items help cover the gap.

LeLaurin says one of the biggest misconceptions about refugees is that they are given a “free ride” to the U.S. They actually enter the country in debt. As a condition of coming to the U.S., refugees must sign a promissory note agreeing to repay travel costs. Airline tickets average about $1,000 a person. Also, the cost of all the household items and food purchased for a family’s arrival is taken out of their initial allowance.

Froot Loops and mango juice

Abbara and his family arrived at Lambert-St. Louis International Airport just after 11:30 p.m. Tuesday from Jordan, where they had been living since 2012. Including a layover in Chicago, the family had been traveling for 24 hours. Add to that an eight-hour time difference.

Nevertheless, late Wednesday morning, Abbara looked well-rested, excited to explore his new home.

“Sleep was good, with comfort,” he said through interpreter Abdullah Ali, an AmeriCorps worker on staff with the institute.

Ali showed Abbara how the thermostat works, how to get cold and hot water from the shower (make sure to tuck shower curtain into the tub), and how to operate the stove, which, it turned out, did not work. The gas company was notified.

Leaving his wife and children, ages 9 months to 16, to settle in, Abbara got into Ali’s Chevrolet Impala and they headed to Shop ‘n Save on Gravois Avenue. Ali told Abbara he should shop for about a week.

On Monday, a van will take the family to the institute for orientation, which includes enrolling in English classes and filling out applications for Social Security cards, Medicaid and food stamps. A stop at the store can also be made that day.

“We want them to have everything they need for about a week. We don’t want them trying to go out,” Ali said. “They don’t know the language. If they get lost, they don’t know their address. They don’t have a phone.”

Abbara did not work from a shopping list but told Ali he knew what he wanted. A watermelon, mango juice and bags of lentils filled the cart alongside a 24-pack of Pepsi, a box of Froot Loops, baby shampoo and diapers. For the latter, Abbara was unsure what size to buy.

“How much does your baby weigh?” Ali asked Abbara.

“Seven kilos,” he was told.

Ali grabbed two packages of diapers for babies who weigh 15 pounds. The men also stopped at the meat counter for two large pieces of buffalo fish and came up empty in the spice aisle searching for dried mint.

Within 45 minutes, the shopping was finished: $209.60. For this shopping trip, Ali had gift cards to pay for the food. He showed Abbara how to swipe them and that there remained a balance on one of them.

Back at the apartment, Abbara’s wife, Dalal Bassam, and daughter Maha Mohammed unpacked the food. There was a knock on the door. Children from a Syrian family that came to St. Louis three weeks earlier stopped by. They live in a nearby building in the same complex.

Ali had introduced the two families earlier in the day. Turns out they already knew one another. Both are from the Syrian city of Homs. The father of the other family worked in the same shop as Abbara, who was a barber. That both refugee families ended up in St. Louis was a coincidence, and a bonus when helping a family acclimate.

“Knowing someone in the neighborhood, that helps a lot,” he said.

In the first week, the family also goes through a health screening, which includes tests for Hepatitis B, HIV, tuberculosis and lead exposure. Families are asked about work and education histories, and children are enrolled in school.

Along the way, for months and years to come, volunteers will continue to play a role in helping the new refugees find their way in St. Louis.

The small things

On Wednesday, about 30 people gathered in the auditorium of the International Institute to learn about volunteering. Help is needed with almost every facet of refugee resettlement, LeLaurin and other International Institute staff members said. From the more mundane, such as scanning documents and helping schedule medical appointments, to teaching refugees how to ride the bus and cross the street safely, most notably using crosswalks.

Volunteers also are needed in English classes and are called on to help refugees fill out job applications, write résumés and conduct mock interviews. After refugees have been here for five years, they can apply for citizenship. Volunteers help them study for the test.

There also is a home visitor program, where volunteers are asked to “be the friendly face of the American people,” said Debra Smith, volunteer services coordinator. While in the home, volunteers also are there to check on the welfare of the family and check off a mental list. Is food stored properly? Is the stove working? Are there puddles in the basement?

“It involves being comfortable with being uncomfortable,” Smith described the visits.

Among the challenges is making sure refugees are moving toward independence as the initial short-term support expires.

Refugees can apply through a grant program for $1,100 per month per family member designed for those committed to quick employment. However, there is only enough money in the fund to serve about 40 percent of refugees. The rest apply for Temporary Assistance for Needy Families, or TANF. The family also can sign up for food stamps and Medicaid.

The institute saw an increase in volunteer interest after the attacks on Paris in November and the ensuing political debate on whether restrictions should be replaced on admitting Syrian refugees to the U.S.

Group volunteer projects also are available, including donation drives and fundraisers.

Russell, a retired school librarian and one of the volunteers buying groceries Tuesday at Shop ‘n Save, said helping prepare for a family’s arrival is a nice way to spend a few hours a week.

“I try to imagine what it’s like being in their shoes,” Russell said of the refugees. “These are small things we are doing.

“But as the saying goes, ‘The whole is the sum of its parts.’”

Be the first to know Get local news delivered to your inbox! Sign up! * I understand and agree that registration on or use of this site constitutes agreement to its user agreement and privacy policy.