All summer, Moses worked to keep four families off the streets. She helped delay the eviction of Asiya Mhanadeni, a Somali refugee, for a month. The mother of five cares for her mother and lives on disability income. Her husband lives in Somalia rearing another family.

Eventually, Moses helped the family find a place they could afford. She schlepped boxes and mattresses. She helped set up the kitchens, bought groceries and made sure all the beds had new bedding .

Today, Moses' days are peppered with interaction with her refugee families. She helps with homework, meets with teachers, negotiates with landlords, carts children to activities and takes their calls throughout the day.

She helps the adults read documents and navigate complicated housing, medical, tax and school arenas. She takes kids shopping when they need things and has whole families over to her home for hamburgers. Veronique calls her husband, Ezra, a saint.

She has a constant radar scanning for refugees in need. A few months ago, she met a refugee family in her neighborhood. She invited them over, befriended them. The pregnant mother is reluctant to have her baby in the hospital. Moses says now it is entirely possible she will help the woman deliver the baby at home.

"Yes, things do get a little out of hand sometimes," Moses grins.

She is one of dozens of volunteers who have filled these gaps with their own time, energy and elbow grease.

Volunteers work with a few Burmese families, a few Russians, a few Thais — but the vast majority are Africans.

Every week Lee sends out an e-mail to 120 people listing areas where families need help. A lot of the time, Lee said, "It's Veronique saying, 'I'll do it. I'll do it.'"

"I can't even say that I'm volunteering. I can't say that I'm a mentor. I consider them my family," Moses said.

It really does take a so-called village, a community, Lee says, to help stabilize this population. It's because refugees don't have an understanding of the bureaucracy and the red tape, and the social workers assigned to them are taxed to the brim.

"We need people to get involved, to not assume that everything is OK with the refugees," Lee said. "This community has enormous needs."

Moses' next goal is to learn Swahili. How can you teach someone English if you don't speak their native language, she asks.

These are the things you do for your family. You learn Swahili.

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E-mail: lucy@desnews.com