Helping Refugees Rebuild

August 04, 2022

In the spring of 2015 Russ Taplin, one of the founders of Riaz Capital, was talking to the owner of a gas station near one of the firm’s apartment buildings in Oakland, California. Ali, the owner of the gas station, had family near Syria. Not one to shy away from difficult topics, Russ asked Ali whether they were being impacted by the Syrian civil war and the refugee crisis it precipitated.

As Ali shared what he heard from friends and family, he mentioned that he had a friend whose son was working for the International Rescue Committee (IRC) to help families escape and resettle abroad.

At the time, Russ had some upcoming vacancies in his apartment buildings. So he did not hesitate to ask Ali for that friend’s phone number. If the IRC could use some help with the resettlement effort, Russ wanted to be the first to know. After a few phone calls and introductions to the IRC’s Bay Area staff members, Riaz Capital partnered with the IRC to assist with their monumental resettlement effort.

One of the refugees that Riaz Capital housed was Nadim, who shared with Russ that he was having some difficulty finding a decent-paying job. Russ suggested they schedule a time to interview for a position as Resident Manager for Riaz Capital. During the interview, Russ was so impressed by Nadim’s background and the way he carried himself that he gave him the job of Assistant Property Manager. The opportunity didn’t just offer a substantial pay increase. It offered a career and with it a future.

The IRC’s History

The IRC’s roots date back to the interwar period when economic hardship beset the Weimar Republic and political extremism began to spread throughout much of Europe. Albert Einstein and Elenore Roosevelt became champions of two predecessor organizations that provided assistance to refugees fleeing Europe. The International Relief Association and the Emergency Rescue Committee joined forces in 1942 to become the International Relief and Rescue Committee, which soon became known as the International Rescue Committee.

The IRC now works in over 40 countries to help victims of humanitarian crises survive, recover and rebuild their lives. Always seeking to empower women and children in particular, the IRC delivers emergency aid and makes lasting impacts through healthcare, education, and the financial aid necessary to regain some self-reliance. In 2020 alone, the IRC provided 31 million people with access to medical services, 2.6 million people with clean water, and over 800,000 children with education.

In the Bay Area, the IRC has helped hundreds of families from various fraught regions find homes. Life is hard enough in the face of disaster. It would be unbearable without support networks. That is why the IRC works to arrange resettlement in groups so that people displaced by the same disasters can form support networks.

Riaz Capital’s Involvement

Without housing partners, these group resettlement efforts would never succeed. That’s what makes partnerships with housing providers like Riaz Capital — and their property managers like 2B Living — vital to the IRC’s resettlement effort.

Since 2015, Riaz Capital has helped 26 families — from Syria, Afghanistan, Yemen, and Uganda — resettle in the Bay Area, by providing them homes without any guarantee of payment from the IRC. Not only did the Taplins provide homes to 26 families, but with the assistance of 2B Living the Taplins also found jobs for many of those individuals.

One of them was Nadim. While Nadim was playing with his kids in the parking lot of a Riaz Capital building, Russ introduced himself and asked how the resettlement process was going. It’s now been five years since Russ proposed a job interview, and Nadim continues to manage properties for Riaz Capital. Looking back, Nadim shared that “without Russ’s help, I wouldn’t be where I am today, with a good job and a good place to live. I’m grateful for the opportunity Russ gave me, and I’m especially grateful for the trust Russ showed me despite having no experience in property management.”

Russ looks back fondly as well: “I could tell just by talking to him that he was really sharp and capable. The interview just confirmed that. So it felt great to be able to offer him the job of Assistant Property Manager. Nothing feels better than being in a position to help good people.”

As millions of people like Nadim are displaced every year, housing providers like Riaz Capital can step up to help. Thanks to the exceptional work of the IRC, the opportunity to do so is just a phone call away.