As the fight to retake ISIS stronghold cities like Mosul and Raqqa approaches a crescendo, many humanitarian organizations are projecting that the offensives will dramatically add to the number of refugees seeking safe harbor. ABC News reports that as many as one million people could be forced from their homes as a result of fighting in Mosul alone, with many crossing the border into war-torn Syria.

Refugees fleeing ongoing conflict in the area have flooded into neighboring countries, straining their resources and destabilizing key allies in the region. This is a key reason why national security experts like Admiral James Stavridis and General Michael Hayden believe that the United States has a vested interest in leading a response to the crisis. While the United States has met and exceeded its goal of resettling 10,000 Syrian refugees this year, next year it’s aiming higher, leading many refugee advocates to consider innovative resettlement solutions to manage the increased caseload.

This month Human Rights First and the International Refugee Assistance Project (IRAP) released a brief outlining how a private sponsorship program, which exists in other countries such as Canada, could work in the United States. Such a program would allow American citizens to work directly with the established public-private U.S. Refugee Admissions Program in order to provide financial support and community integration to newly resettled refugees. Human Rights First points out that this kind of system has precedent; during President Ronald Reagan’s administration, private citizens were authorized to sponsor a certain number of refugees in addition to the total government-sponsored allocations.

Human Rights First’s Jennifer Quigley says that a new State Department pilot “adopt a refugee” program would be similar—supplementing, rather than replacing, the existing public-private system. Not only would this allow the United States to bring in a larger number of the most vulnerable refugees, it would also allow ordinary Americans to join in, further strengthening the network of communities, organizations, businesses, and philanthropies within the program. “It’s about expanding bridges between local communities and refugees in need,” adds Betsy Fisher, policy director at IRAP.

The pair stress that any refugee entering through a private sponsorship program would undergo an identical vetting process used to screen all other refugee entrants to the United States. In an interview with PRI, Asmaa Albukaie, Idaho’s very first Syrian refugee, wishes that every American understood how rigorous this security screening process is. She explains: “My paperwork and other people’s paperwork, it’s huge. We went through a lot of interviews, a lot of background checks … More than 10 interviews, and a lot of them were scary and not comfortable, in small rooms, no windows, like an investigation.”

Be sure to check out our #TangibleHope featured leaders series this week profiling VFAI’s own Jess Bell. Bell, a Marine veteran, now volunteers her time working with refugees in her community.

“I’m particularly concerned about the major humanitarian crisis we are facing right now,” says Bell. “About six months ago, I began volunteering for a local nonprofit that places refugees in my community. I was introduced to a family of seven from Sudan who was placed in Detroit after spending a decade in a refugee camp in Chad. Their struggles, coupled with their determination to succeed, has both inspired and challenged me to do more.”

Have reactions to share, or want to learn how you can be involved in our efforts to raise veteran voices in support of refugees? Find us on Facebook or Twitter, or contact us at vfai@humanrightsfirst.