The Schultz Family Foundation, Stand Together Foundation, The Starbucks Foundation and Hello Neighbor announced recipients of the Mobilizing America for Refugees Fund, which was created with the goal of engaging 10,000+ American volunteers to help resettle their new Afghan neighbors. Collectively, the four organizations are investing $1.3 million to support 60 community-based organizations in 32 states with Afghan resettlement efforts.
Tens of thousands of Afghans have been forced to flee their homeland, many because of threats to their lives and livelihoods due to their association with the United States. Thousands of Americans are ready to welcome our new Afghan neighbors by donating goods, services, and time. To that end, the Mobilizing America for Refugees Fund is investing in local organizations that are committed to creating opportunities for Americans across the country to directly engage in welcoming and helping Afghan newcomers integrate into their new communities in partnership with local resettlement agencies. These organizations are providing a range of volunteer-led services such as: welcoming events, English instruction, driving lessons, job navigation, school enrollment, clothing, household goods and furniture, and transportation to doctors' visits.
From coast to coast, community-based organizations who are receiving support from the Mobilizing America for Refugees Fund are tapping the goodwill of everyday Americans to welcome their new neighbors. Interested volunteers can find an organization in their community by visiting the initiative's interactive map. A full list of organizations being supported by the Mobilizing Americans for Refugees Fund is available here.
Some examples of organizations receiving support from the Mobilizing America for Refugees Fund include:
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Viets for Afghans, based in Seattle, WA, is a refugee-led volunteer-coalition mobilizing the Vietnamese-American community to assist Afghan refugees. They relate to the trauma Afghans face today because they are either refugees themselves or directly tied to the first-generation refugee experience. Their growing endeavor connects volunteers with ways to donate money, goods, and/or time.
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The Afghan Community Culture Center is an Afghan-led community-based organization in San Diego, CA, dedicated to helping newcomer families through educational events and activities which allow them to navigate resources as well as challenges that may arise during resettlement.
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Fugees Family, a Stand Together Foundation Catalyst in Columbus, OH, provides a holistic education that focuses on the unique academic, social, and psychological development needs of refugee students to help improve the lives and long-term achievement potential of immigrant children.
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Break Bread, Break Borders in Dallas, TX is where refugee women from war-torn countries are economically empowered by cooking for a living. With mentoring from professional chefs, restaurants, caterers, and culinary consultants the BBBB community cooks receive the necessary licenses and certifications to look for job opportunities in the food industry service.
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Every Campus a Refuge in Greensboro, NC was established to call on every college and university in the world to partner with their local refugee resettlement agencies to temporarily house refugees on campus grounds and assist them in resettlement. The idea is that university and college campuses have everything necessary – housing, food, care, skills – to take in refugees and support them as they begin their lives in their new homes.
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Garland, TX is home to For the Nations Refugee Outreach, a nonprofit focused on a wide variety of educational programs and family services as refugees adapt to life in the United States.
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GirlForward, in Chicago, IL, creates a community for girls who have been displaced globally by conflict and persecution by supporting girls ages 14-21 through mentoring, education and safe spaces programs. Girls who receive resettlement in the United States face huge challenges: poverty, language barrier, limited or disrupted education, isolation, and trauma. But Girl Forward believes that when girls succeed, everyone benefits.
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New Neighbors Partnership in New York, NY, a grass-roots organization, matches refugee, asylee, and asylum-seeking families with local New York City families who have slightly older kids and can pass on hand-me-down clothing donations on a regular basis, along with other emergency needs from school supplies to diapers.
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Committed to helping the Afghan refugee community in Salt Lake City, UT, the Utah Muslim Civic League in liaison with the several partners is providing community support, free legal clinics, and emergency funding to cover gaps. Also building resources for culturally appropriate, trauma informed service provisions. Youth and women group to help the new arrivals. The organization is dedicated to advocating for wholistic integration of refugees in the State.
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Founded by a group of Somali Bantu refugees living in Manchester, NH, Organization for Refugee and Immigrant Success (ORIS) aids in the resettlement of refugees and immigrants in the state by providing assistance, training, resources, and opportunities that promote self-sufficiency. ORIS will be providing employment services, helping families enroll their children in school, ensuring Afghans can access healthcare services and nutritious food, and connecting them with other social services as needed.
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The Riverview International Center in Columbus, OH works to empower New American neighbors by supporting individuals, strengthening families, and nurturing community. Their programs are designed to help New Americans navigate life in America and include general advocacy, community events, English classes, employment services, computer literacy class, homework and reading helping and more.
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Operation Sacred Promise, located in Las Vegas, NV started in 2021 as an ad-hoc group of volunteers – American Service Members working around the clock to help Afghan partners escape the Taliban. Working across the globe, it has since helped these partners navigate the bureaucratic pathways to legal residence in the United States and work toward securing housing, employment, and education.
To support the effort, Hello Neighbor, a nonprofit committed to supporting refugees and immigrants, is leading a collaborative learning community as part of the Hello Neighbor Network to share best practices among grantees. Welcome.US is helping to foster collaboration, and coordinate among resettlement groups and civic organizations, including the more than 100 organizations that comprise its broad coalition of partners.
About the Schultz Family Foundation
The Schultz Family Foundation, established in 1996 by Sheri and Howard Schultz, former ceo and chairman emeritus of Starbucks, creates pathways of opportunity for populations facing barriers to success, focusing on youth transitioning to adulthood and marginalized populations, including Black, Indigenous, People of Color communities. By investing in scalable solutions and partnerships in communities across the country, the Foundation aims to help tackle the barriers and roadblocks that prevent individuals from reaching their full potential and, in doing so, strengthen our communities and our nation.
About Stand Together Foundation
Stand Together Foundation is committed to breaking the cycle of poverty in America by driving change from within communities. We are building a community of social entrepreneurs who believe in people, work from the bottom up, and unite with anyone to do right. Since 2016, we have committed $100 million and counting to fuel the innovation of nonprofits throughout the country to build stronger, safer communities where all people can learn, contribute, and realize their full potential. Our goal is to help nonprofit leaders maximize their impact to transform more lives out of poverty.
About The Starbucks Foundation
The Starbucks Foundation strengthens humanity by transforming lives across the world, with a focus on enabling community resiliency and prosperity and uplifting communities affected by disaster. Established in 1997, The Starbucks Foundation is a Section 501(c)(3) charitable organization under U.S. law.
About Hello Neighbor A full list of organizations being supported by the Mobilizing Americans for Refugees Fund is available here
Hello Neighbor works to improve the lives of recently resettled refugee families by matching them with dedicated neighbors to guide and support them in their new lives. Founded in 2017, Hello Neighbor started in Pittsburgh, PA and today serves over 500 refugees and immigrants a month. In 2019 the Hello Neighbor Network was formed, a coalition of grassroots organizations working in post-refugee and immigrant resettlement in the U.S. that comes together to grow and inspire change.
About Welcome.US
Welcome.US is a new national effort that launched in September 2021 to welcome Afghan families as they get settled and build new lives in the United States. Welcome.US provides a single point of entry to channel the outpouring of support from Americans who want to get involved by donating supplies, money, or time to frontline organizations; offering temporary housing; or sponsoring refugees. President Barack Obama and Michelle Obama, President George. W. Bush and Laura Bush, and President William J. Clinton and Secretary Hillary Clinton serve as honorary co-chairs.