Marlene Somsak thinks of her retirement as a “bonus round,” the time after a decadeslong career in high tech to do whatever she wants with her life.
For Somsak, it was important that time include helping other people. It’s something her father impressed on her when she was young.
“He told me, 'Being good is good. Being good is its own reward,'" Somsak said.
It was, it turns out, just one way in which Somsak’s father influenced her “bonus round.” The fact that he was an immigrant to this country played a role as well.
“My dad was an immigrant in 1929 from Hungary. He recalled it wasn't quite a great warm welcome that he got. I thought in my retirement, maybe I can try to make someone else's welcome a little bit nicer than my dad's,” Somask said.
So, Somsak went looking for opportunities to help immigrants and refugees to the United States and found Jewish Family Services of Silicon Valley. JFS is one of just a handful of organizations that are tapped by the U.S. government to help resettle refugees in Santa Clara County.
JFS helps refugees – most recently from Afghanistan and Ukraine – secure jobs, schooling, services, and, most importantly, housing. It is what goes into that housing, however, that has become Somsak’s passion.
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She is the ring leader of an online community called Refugee Resettlement Village, which collects donations of quality used furniture, warehouses them at a Public Storage facility in Sunnyvale, and then distributes them to refugee families who have been assigned housing but because of their situation have no belongings.
"We want them to be able to close the doors and feel they can take a deep breath, that they can relax, they can recuperate, they can tend to their families and begin to grow new roots,” Somsak said.
Over the past few years, Somask has furnished more than a hundred homes. The most recent one is an Afghan couple ending an arduous months-long journey across the world. And at least now they can find relief in knowing they have somewhere to rest and sleep.
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“I want to do something that matters. And I am surrounded by people who matter and who are doing things that will pay off benefits for generations. And that feels really good,” Somsak said.
Those looking to volunteer for or donate to the Refugee Resettlement Village can contact refugeeresettlementvillage@gmail.com.
