ILLINOIS (WAND) - Seventeen Afghan refugees have been resettled in central Illinois after fleeing Kabul during the Taliban takeover last August.

The Afghan Welcome Home Project is now working to help get these men the resources they need so they can build a new life in the United States.

"They got really emotional, they started crying, it was a really, really bad day," one refugee said, recalling the day Kabul fell to the Taliban.

We can't share this refugee's name or face, because he was a member of a specialized Afghan military unit, and his family - still stuck in Afghanistan - could be put in danger.

But he still remembers the chaos of the days leading up to fleeing his home country.

"We have no clue, they knew - so they told us tomorrow the host province will be fallen into Taliban," this refugee explained.

He has not seen his family since and may never be able to return home.

"Currently my family is in Kabul. They can't go to the host province because everyone knows my family, everyone knows what we used to do," he explained.

But he's thankful to be one of the 14 men now living in the Arcola area thanks to the Afghan Welcome Home Project.

"We have shed blood, sweat and tears on the exact same dirt, on the exact same ground, against the exact same enemy," Ilene Henderson, operations manager for the Afghan Welcome Project, told WAND News.

Henderson is a 21 year combat veteran who helped launch the non-profit last fall.

"Not only are they separated from their country and family, but for them to be able to now get together and have someone helping them that can truly relate to them," Henderson explained about being a fellow combat veteran.

Now, she's helping these men find housing and is collaborating with Masterbrand Cabinets, who has agreed to hire the men in a special training program.

"The men have taken a tour of the factory and are very excited to begin. They'll be making very good wages and full benefits," Henderson explained.

She hopes to not just offer a temporary solution, but a long term plan to help them create a new life in America. 

The Afghan Welcome Home Project is looking for dentists and lawyers willing to donate their time. The non-profit is also seeking monetary donations to pay for food, housing and necessities until the men begin their new jobs at Masterbrand Cabinets.