Refugee Accompaniment July 2016

RAISE AWARENESS 

#EMBRACE REFUGEES

Leviticus 19:34 The alien who resides with you shall be to you as the citizen among you; you shall love the alien as yourself, for you were aliens in the land of Egypt: I am the Lord your God. 

The Ad Council Embrace Refugees campaign has been in the market since mid-June. It has already provided many points of engagement for spreading awareness that “Refugees are no different than us.  We all want to live without fear.”  www.embracerefugees.org/  You can help build this awareness.  Share this website and its stories broadly.

Church World Service offers ideas on welcoming a refugee into your community. You can help a refugee right away, from gathering supplies to showing them around their new city. When you help ease a refugee’s transition into our country, you not only aid someone in need—you also serve your community. Your generosity can help change a life.

From the Embrace Refugees Campaign:

Refugees are people who flee violence and persecution to seek a safer life—people who have no choice but to leave their homes, often on little or no notice, in order to escape torture or death at the hands of extremist groups or corrupt governments. These families are matched with safe countries where they can build a life free of fear and become contributing members of a community.

THE HARDEST WAY TO ENTER THE U.S. IS AS A REFUGEE  Read More…

REFUGEES ARE RESILIENT – Meet families who are bringing their passions and skills to our communities

AN INVESTMENT, NOT A BURDEN
America is built on the principle of welcoming people from all cultures and religions who are seeking a safer way of life. From our country’s inception, refugees have been woven into the rich fabric of American life. With diverse backgrounds and complementary ways of problem-solving, refugees have become essential to our country’s ability to thrive, renew and innovate.

NEWS AND ADVOCACY

RAISE YOUR VOICE       
Take Action TODAY: Tell Your Representatives to Increase Refugee Funding

What do I say?  Click here for ideas.

As we face the largest recorded displacement crisis in history, resettlement remains one of the key ways that the U.S. can demonstrate leadership and encourage other countries to help refugees. President Obama committed to resettling 100,000 refugees in Fiscal Year 2017, an increase from 85,000 in FY 2016. It is critical that even this relatively small increase in refugee admissions is met with increased funds to ensure local communities have the resources they need to help refugees integrate and thrive.

Right now, the U.S. House of Representatives is considering a FY17 funding bill that would drastically cut resources for the U.S. Refugee Admissions Program. This reduction would turn our backs on the 100,000 refugees we have pledged to welcome, damage integration efforts, and negatively impact communities that welcome refugees. Please call the below members of the Appropriations Subcommittee on State / Foreign Operations, as they prepare to debate this bill.