World Day of Migrants and Refugees: The Tenacity of Rebuilding a Life
Originally from Afghanistan, the Azizi family was resettled in Fort Wayne in May 2024 by Catholic Charities Fort Wayne-South Bend. The Azizis are a family of ten. Over the past two years, they have been acclimating to daily life in the U.S., while improving their cultural knowledge, adjusting to new social norms, and integrating into the new community.
As part of Catholic Charities’ Refugee Support Services, the Azizi family was enrolled in our Cultural Orientation and Job Readiness training to improve their skills for their new life soon after arriving.
With over 50 years of resettlement experience, our staff knows the key to a refugee family becoming economically self-sufficient and integrating well within the community comes down to:
Each family needs one or two people who can drive to reduce dependency on others.
Each family needs one or two people who can speak English to live in the U.S. without relying on others.
Each family needs one or two people who can work to cover the family’s expenses in the U.S.
After evaluating the family’s self-sufficiency plan, staff realized the family’s older children would play a large part.
As the oldest daughter of the family, Royena Azizi is an enthusiastic, resilient young adult. She finished 10th grade in Afghanistan, but did not speak English. Soon after arriving, her primary goal was to begin working to support her family. Royena knew that to get a job, she would need to speak English confidently and get her driver’s license. Over the next year, staff enrolled her in ESL classes at Anthis Career Center and Purdue University.
As her English skills improved, Royena began studying for the 50-question learner’s permit test. Catholic Charities staff helped her apply to several jobs, and she got a couple of job interviews but was not hired – yet she did not give up.
After one year and three months in the U.S., Royena finally found employment in August 2025. Her second younger brother also got a job at the same company. Royena and her brother have been working for nine months to help their family become economically self-sufficient.
Persistent in learning about her new community, Royena joined our Youth Mentoring training in the evenings in the Fall of 2025 while working the first shift and juggling studying for her learner’s permit and academic development.
Royena finally passed the learner’s permit test in January 2026. Passing the learner permit test is a great achievement for Royena and her English fluency. Royena has been practicing driving and will take the test soon to get a driver’s license.
Catholic Charities’ staff is very proud of Royena and what she has accomplished – her hard work, resiliency, and her struggle to overcome the challenges in adjusting to life in the U.S.