Atheer Kiriacos Jajou in his Providence apartment, which was robbed last week. “They stole everything,” he said. “What money I had, I lost it.”

The Providence Journal / Gretchen Ertl

PROVIDENCE — Seven months after an Iraqi refugee family received a warm welcome here, bad luck burst through the back door.

Make that bad luck on top of bad luck for Atheer Kiriacos Jajou, his wife, Baydaa Elshwaie, and their two children, who are the first Iraqi refugees resettled in Rhode Island since the 1990s.

In Iraq, where Jajou was imprisoned, beaten and tortured, they’d lived in constant fear, before fleeing to Turkey six years ago. Resettled last September through the International Institute of Rhode Island, the family hoped for a fresh start.

The couple immediately enrolled their children, Andi, 10, and Alesen, 12, in school for the first time: it was not possible either in Iraq or Turkey. Jajou found a part-time job. The family made friends through a Central Falls church, and concentrated on improving their English.

But in January, the bank foreclosed on the house where they rent an apartment, leaving them scrambling for space.

Last Thursday, while Jajou and Elshwaie were cleaning a house arranged through a friend from church, someone broke through a deadbolt on the apartment’s back door, ransacked the apartment and stole a computer and $1,850 in cash — all the money they had.

“Just two hours, we were gone,” Jajou said. “The clothes, everything — they pushed it on the floor. They stole everything … what money I had, I lost it.” The thief or thieves also stole an inexpensive camera Jajou used for online video chats with his parents in Australia.

“They can’t seem to get a break here,” said Catherine Kelly, a job developer who is one of several International Institute advocates involved with the family. “They were getting evicted. They were supposed to be out of the house as soon as possible. There was a scramble to galvanize the community to help them.”

Jajou had saved $850; friends donated another $1,000. “They were going to use that money for the move,” said Kelly, “and we were going to help them with moving expenses, and provide a truck.”

Jajou called Kelly, and other caseworkers at the Institute, as he waited for the police to come after the break-in.

“I went over to the house as soon as we found out,” said Kelly. “It was terrible. His wife was so upset. Just seeing their things thrown all over the house, they ransacked the bedroom, pulled all the clothes out and pulled some of the drawers so hard they broke some of the furniture. They were very upset about it, as you can imagine.”

Kelly added, “I hate to see so much misfortune happen to one family. But they’ll get through it. They’re resilient. If there’s one thing we know about refugees, they’re resilient.”

Baha Sadr, the Institute’s director of refugee resettlement, said the agency is standing behind the family 100 percent and will continue its involvement.

“We are doing whatever we can to help Atheer with the current situation and he will receive all that he needs. We are trying to bring the community at large to rally behind him,” said Sadr. He said the agency will provide a moving truck and a crew to help the family move tomorrow into a one-family home arranged through St. Ephraim Church in Central Falls — before the water is shut off in their current apartment on Saturday.

Sitting in the living room of the Valley neighborhood apartment yesterday, Jajou said the family has endured worse, and he remains grateful to be in the United States.

“I am happy to see my children, they go to school — they are learning English very fast. This is enough for me.”

Jajou was trained at a technical institute in Baghdad, and is both a metalworker and mold-maker. To date, he has been able to find part-time work at a liquor store for $145 a week. Jajou said the storeowner offered him the job after reading a Journal article about the family last Christmas. Kelly said he is expected to start a full-time job, possibly next week.

Yesterday afternoon, Jajou got a tiny bit of good news: the family will be receiving federal assistance of $325 per month.

“It’s good,” he said. “Now, after I move, maybe next week I’ll have another job.”

Meanwhile, Kelly touted Jajou’s job skills.

“He is a really talented metalworker and an artist. He does artwork from molds. He can work with fiberglass. We’d been looking in the boating industry, possibly for fiberglass hull repair,” she said. “When he was working in Turkey, he was commissioned to replicate some pieces for the churches around town. He’s really very talented. He’s just had a series of bad luck.”

She added, “Our goal is to help them move toward self sufficiency, and navigating these types of problems. This could happen to anyone, but certainly when you’re new in a country — to have both a foreclosure and a robbery happen in a short time, that would be challenging for any family. But for someone who has had so much upheaval in their lives already, it’s especially tough.”

Anyone wishing to help the family should contact International Institute executive director William Shuey or deputy director Cindy Mauch at (401) 461-5940. The International Institute of Rhode Island is located at 645 Elmwood Ave., Providence, RI, 02907.

kziner@projo.com