Residents of Northampton, Massachusetts, are laying the groundwork for the likely arrival of refugees in the next year.

Catholic Charities, based in Springfield, expects to resettle 51 refugees from Syria, Iraq, Burundi, and the Congo, and they’re focusing on Northampton, where the city council last year passed a resolution to welcome the groups.

In preparation, the charity’s leaders are speaking at house parties to give residents a sense of what refugees will need. At one event, Adam Abderelrahman of Darfur spoke of his experience in Springfield, where his family resettled three years ago.

“People don’t don’t understand that you are new here and don’t have the correct language to deal with people,”Abderelrahman said.  “They don’t have patience for you, they hurt you with words, kind of like ignorance, which is understandable but it’s very stressful at the same time.”

Catholic Charities says the first refugees could come as early as January.