Sponsorship immigration offers alternative path for refugees to come to Mass.

About half of the families in or on the waitlist for Massachusetts' highly burdened emergency system shelter are coming from other countries.

But asylum and the shelter system is not the only option for new migrants. There's also sponsorship — when a group of people volunteer to support and individual or family.

Radio Boston breaks down how sponsorship immigration works and speaks to people who participate in a local community program bringing people to the state.

CORRECTION: This segment refers to Sasha Chanoff as the Executive Director and founder of RefugePoint. His title is founder and CEO of RefugePoint. WBUR regrets the error.