GREENWICH, CT — In a quiet room inside the North Greenwich Congregational Church, 25-year-old Manizha Naziry bends over a piece of fabric, hemming clothing for a client—something she never imagined doing before fleeing Afghanistan.
“Now I have some opportunities that I could learn more,” Naziry said.
Naziry is one of several resettled Afghan women participating in a local sewing circle, a volunteer-run initiative that offers both skill-building and entrepreneurial training.
The program was launched with support from Jewish Family Services of Greenwich and is led by Stacia Morris, a financial literacy coach.
“They can be very fast. I can give them stuff; one week, and by the next week, it’s done,” Morris said, praising the women’s adaptability and speed.
The initiative grew in importance as the future of federal refugee resettlement aid remains uncertain. Advocates are bracing for potential cuts, redirecting focus to workforce programs that build long-term independence.
Naziry and her family fled Afghanistan after the Taliban takeover in 2021, initially resettling in Virginia before moving to Connecticut to reunite with extended relatives.
She recalled the anxiety of displacement, language barriers, and isolation upon arrival.
“I like to do sewing,” Naziry said. “We have to find what art that we want to do. So, I think sewing is the best thing that we can do for ourselves or for other people. And I like it.”
Rachel Kornfeld, CEO of Jewish Family Services of Greenwich, said the sewing program helped address cultural isolation.
“They were a bit fearful to leave their homes without their family,” Kornfeld said. “Some that didn’t come in a larger extended family were truly on their own, as they didn’t speak English, and not many people in the area spoke their language of origin, which would have been either Pashto, or Dari.”
Kornfeld credited Morris with transforming the sewing circle into an entrepreneurial hub, giving women the confidence to price and sell their work.
Morris, who learned sewing from her mother, said the incubator now has 20 to 25 machines, some of which students take home to keep practicing.
However, Morris said the program isn’t a one-size-fits-all solution. She designs it primarily for older women, while younger participants are encouraged toward professional careers. Naziry, for example, is now pursuing a degree to become a dental hygienist.
“I threw her out of the incubator,” Morris said with a laugh. “Her parents and family members invited my sister and I to have lunch with them one Saturday.”
As resettlement funds grow unstable, Kornfeld said the shift toward workforce development is deliberate. “Now, more than ever, we are shifting our resources and our attention to workforce development for our immigrant population,” she said. “It’s an intentional shift, because we want to make sure that our clients are gainfully employed, and that they also have opportunities for upskilling and education, to continue their path towards self-sufficiency and living a better quality of life.”
