Our Story

The inspiration for TRA began at the Nashville airport in the fall of 2021, an appropriate place for a journey to begin. Katie Finn was working for a local resettlement agency, waiting to welcome one of the first Afghan arrivals. He emerged from the gate alone, clutching a plastic bag of documents and nothing else. He had no luggage with him and no bags on the carousel. He had no coat to keep him warm in the cool afternoon and only sandals on his feet. Katie couldn’t forget about him or shake her worry that he and other arriving Afghans wouldn’t have what they needed to stay warm. Soon after, she put the word out to her neighbors and friends—that Afghan allies are arriving totally unprepared for a Tennessee winter. The response was immediate and overwhelming; Katie’s living-room overflowed with donations and she was able to give new sets of warm clothes and jackets not only to that young man, but also to many other Afghan refugees as well.

That call for support made its way to fellow American Julie Pine and Saleem Tahiri, a member of the local Afghan community. All three volunteered their time and resources to prevent more  families from slipping through the cracks. They quickly realized that there was a need for an organized response to this challenge and Tennessee Resettlement Aid (TRA), a nonprofit, was born. From these first days of individuals taking action to help their new friends and neighbors stay warm, TRA has grown to have a full leadership team, an extensive network of volunteers and a robust and diverse offering of aid, advocacy and data analysis programs.