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Catholic Charities Ready For Refugees, If Called Upon

Petr David Josek/AP (from npr.org)

The fate of Syrian and Iraqi refugees remains uncertain. If and when a decision is made to relocate refugees in the United States, one agency will likely be called into action: Catholic Charities. When it comes to resettling refugees, this agency is one of the largest.

Ken Williams is the president and CEO of Catholic Charities of Northeast Kansas. KPR's J. Schafer spoke to him to learn more about the agency and its mission.

William says his organization doesn't decide WHICH refugees get in -- that's up to the U.S. State Department -- but his agency does play a role once a decision has been made.

J. Schafer is the News Director of Kansas Public Radio at the Univeristy of Kansas. He’s also the Managing Editor of the Kansas Public Radio Network, which provides news and information to other public radio stations in Kansas and Missouri. Before joining KPR in 1995, Schafer spent 10 years as a commercial radio and TV newsman. During his career, he's filed stories for nearly every major radio news network in the nation including ABC, NBC, CBS, AP, UPI, the Mutual Broadcasting System, NPR and the BBC. This seems to impress no one. At KPR, he produces feature stories, interviews and newscast items and edits the work of others. In the fall of 2000, he performed contract work for the U.S. State Department, traveling to central Asia to teach broadcast journalism at newly independent radio stations in the former Soviet Union. One of his passions is Kansas; learning about and promoting the state’s rich heritage, people and accomplishments. Schafer gives presentations about Kansas to various organizations around the state to remind residents about our awesome history and incredible people. A native of Great Bend, he studied journalism and mass communications at Barton County Community College and at the University of Kansas. He was also an exchange student to Villingen-Schwenningen, Germany. The “J.” in J. Schafer stands for Jeremy, but he doesn’t really care for that name. He also enjoys the pretentiousness of using just a single initial for a first name!