IRIS: Integrated Refugee & Immigrant Services reposted this
A must read from David French of the The New York Times: https://lnkd.in/eDFQD5sB "Mak[ing] a friend" IS the cure for loneliness, and when it's combined with civic engagement, a cure for what's ailing our democracy. This article reminded me of what so many of our sponsors say--that they had no idea that in sponsoring refugee newcomers, their own lives and communities would be so transformed. There are the obvious friends you make, with the newcomer family that you sponsor to come to the United States, but what was unanticipated by so many of our sponsors is how their friends and neighbors, inspired by what they were doing, joined them to care for the new family in the neighborhood too. You can see how these bonds are formed and strengthened in this story from Elizabeth Langland and her friends John and Fonda in Florida, who sponsored the Novak family fleeing Ukraine, and found new hope and renewal in their own lives: https://lnkd.in/eCK8p36Q Or this one with Leslie Sperry and her Beacon Heights church group in Ft. Wayne, Indiana, who sponsored Meshack and his family from the Congo through the Welcome Corps, and shares how it was through her work as a sponsor that she discovered Congolese neighbors who had resettled in her community 20 years earlier--but whom she only just met when she sponsored Meshack and his family: https://lnkd.in/ewSgjXgG Or this one from volunteers who supported an Afghan family resettled by IRIS: Integrated Refugee & Immigrant Services in Connecticut. I love seeing Delcie, Mark, & Kristen proudly caring for the family's newborn twins: https://lnkd.in/eqRe5E-f Or my own sponsor group, which started as a group of five and is now a group of 40. We sponsors are finding new purpose, new inspiration, and new love of country through our work welcoming newcomers, and in the process building bridges with each other and strengthening our communities. It's the most hopeful work I know, for so many reasons, and we at Welcome.US are so eager for more Americans to experience this heart-expanding joy. #DavidFrench American Enterprise Institute Trust for Civic Life Stand Together Sarah Cross Brian Hooks Michele Lawrence Jawando Deepak Bhargava Asahi Pompey Richard Dickson Ginette Magaña Salas Michelle Barsa Branden Polk, MSW Geri Mannion BEHNAZ GHAHRAMANI Laleh Ispahani Vivek Murthy AARP Foundation Milken Institute Jim Lesser John Gerzema Libby Rodney John Bridgeland