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Today is World Refugee Day, a time to remember those who have died while seeking refugee from their homeland, according to xt3.com. It’s also a time to realize how to help the hundreds of thousands who are currently seeking asylum.

Some resources:

• The Church on World Refugee Day (a Q-and-A on Vatican Radio)
• Praying with Refugees (from Jesuit Refugee Service/USA)
• Refugee stats (from the UN Refugee Agency)
• 3 quick things to know (from Time’s blog)
• The official site

The Routh family are Bhutanese refugees. Read their full story about oppression, refugee camps and why they love America.

Catholic Charities Community Services, which serves the Phoenix Diocese, has a strong refugee resettlement program. It’s been around for more than 35 years and helps nearly 1,000 refugees become productive members of their new communities every year. They come from Iraq and countries like Burma or Bhutan where ethnic discrimination deprived them of their livelihoods.

There are ways to help like donating items, volunteering (tutoring, life skills, preparing apartments, and more) and hiring refugees. More than 400 supporters and refugees attended the 12th annual We are the World Cultural Extravaganza Catholic Charities hosted last month.

Here’s an excerpt from a recent Catholic Sun article on refugees leading up to that event:

Pram Routh was seven years old when his family fled persecution in Bhutan. His brother, Yam, was nine.

At that young age, they’d seen an abusive military force that would routinely take women behind the barracks to rape them. The government made children work road construction a couple months a year.

“Some people died doing the work,” Pram said.

The Routh family faced years in a refugee camp and ultimately resettled in Phoenix about a year ago.

Catholic Charities provides a subsidized house, helps refugees get jobs, and sets them up with the basics. The house is stocked with food that corresponds to a refugees culture and hygiene supplies.

“They’re still optimistic,” said Joanna Morales, director of the Catholic Charities refugee program. Awed by the refugees’ resilience, she noted that for years they were languishing in camps, just waiting to see what would come next.

“It’s a powerful thing to see,” Morales said. “Most of us would have given up.”

Catholic Charities also sets refugee families up with a computer, which can be invaluable in searching for a job. Volunteers help mentor refugees, teach them life skills and provide transportation. Bike donations help, too.

The family members now have jobs: at a convenience store, as an accountant and at a commercial airline. The dad works in a supermarket bakery.