Author: Adam Hendrickson

Get a sneak peak of the upcoming documentary, The New Neighbors Project upstairs at The Hellgate Elks Lodge, 112 N Pattee St, at 5 p.m. This innovative project gives refugees a chance to tell a story from behind the camera. Watch previews of refugee-directed short films, which will be featured in film festivals around the county including Missoula’s Big Sky Film Festival. Ranging from a little girl’s fairy tale of rescuing her best friend from an evil king, to a man’s story of his struggle for education and life in a refugee camp; these films often flip traditional media narratives on their head as the refugee-directors tell you their own story. Q&As with the directors to follow each clip. Event is free with a suggested donation to The New Neighbors Project.

 

Iraqi and Syrian chefs will partner with the chefs at Caffe Dolce to serve specialty dishes all day. You can also catch the famous Wow Falafel food stand on the patio! A portion of the sales of these dishes will go directly to the chefs. Grab your lunch or dinner at Caffe Dolce; you might want to make a reservation. This is going to be a truly delicious and special event!

The final two events for Welcoming Week are here! Make sure you enjoy lunch or dinner at Caffe Dolce on Saturday to support our Iraqi and Syrian chefs. A portion of the proceeds from these featured dishes will benefit the families directly. Then, join us Sunday evening for a sneak peak of The New Neighbors Project. This documentary gives refugees the chance to tell stories from behind the camera. We are so excited to close Welcoming Week with such awesome events!

More information about the event at Caffe Dolce can be found here. 

More information about the New Neighbors Project film screening is here. 

See you there!

SLM and our partners have many more awesome events planned for the rest of Welcoming Week. Check out these events happening on Thursday 9/22!

Shakespeare & Co., 7 pm: Our Written Voices presents The Spoken Worlds of Central and Southwest Asia. People who have traveled to this region, and/or have a connection to this region will share poetry and prose. Presenters will share original poetry and prose or writings by those who have inspired them.

Roxy Theatre, 8 pm: Join the Jeanette Rankin Peace Center at the Roxy Theater at 8 p.m. to celebrate the UN International Day of Peace with the award-winning film, Rooted in Peace. This film features interviews with some of the world’s most intriguing thought leaders like David Lynch, Mairead Maguire, Pete Seeger, Archbishop Desmond Tutu and many more.

Welcoming Week’s exciting events continue this week! Check out the information below and be sure to stop by these events.

Monday, September 18, 7 pm: SALAM presents Culture Quiz night at the parish hall at Holy Spirit Episcopal Church, 130 South 6th St. East, at 7 p.m. Meet, greet and compete in Missoula’s first Culture Quiz, sponsored by SALAM (Standing Alongside America’s Muslims). Test your knowledge of new Missoulians’ cultures in a Jeopardy-style trivia game, followed by potluck dessert and table games from Iraq, Syria and other countries in the region. Bring your friends and your favorite dessert dish!

Tuesday, September 19, 4 – 7 pm: Visit the Missoula Art Museum, 335 N. Pattee St, Missoula,  for the final showing of the Hmong culture exhibition, “From Flower Cloth to Story Cloth: Hmong Textiles in the MAM Collection.” Drinks and light snacks will be provided at 4 p.m., courtesy of The Good Food Store. Admission is free and families are welcome!

Wednesday, September 20, 6 – 7 pm: Gather at the Montana Women Vote office at 725 W Alder St #21 with other refugee resettlement supporters to call our government representatives. Soft Landing Missoula, the International Rescue Committee, Montana Women Vote, the Montana Human Rights Network and many other partner agencies around the state are joining together to call our government representatives to express our support for refugee resettlement.

If you can’t attend the call party, you can still contact your representatives from home! Read this post to see suggested scripting, phone numbers to call, and more. 

We hope to see you at these events!

he Congolese families return to the stage for their second theatrical production in Missoula! Come to the Sentinel High School Theatre from 3 – 5 p.m. to see their latest production that will focus on Congolese culture, music, and dance. There will be a Q&A with the performers following the play. Admission is free with a suggested donation to benefit the participating families.

For more information about this and other Welcoming Week activities, visit our website. 

We are SO excited for our first Welcoming Week event, the Eritrean Coffee Ceremony! Join us tomorrow morning at the Annunciation Greek Orthodox Church, 301 S. 6th St. W, from 9 am – 11 am. This traditional coffee ceremony involves hand-roasting, grinding of the beans, and brewing of strong coffee. Then, enjoy a delicious cup sitting in front of a traditional serving table! Come learn a bit more about Eritrean culture and get your coffee fix! Admission is free with a suggested donation to benefit the participating families.

For more information about this and other Welcoming Week events, visit our website. 

 

Starting Saturday 9/16, you can visit the Mansfield Library to check out our Supporter Stories Exhibit for Welcoming Week. The individuals featured in this exhibit have been impacting our refugee families from the beginning. You may have seen some of them featured in our online series of Supporter Stories. Now, you can see them in person!

The exhibit is located on the Mansfield Library’s main floor, which is open from 7 am – 9 pm daily. It is free and family-friendly! Special thank you to the Mansfield Library team for their help with this event, to Elliott Natz for his amazing interviews, and to Jenn Prinzing for designing such a beautiful exhibit.

For more information about this and other Welcoming Week events, visit our website. The exhibit will close on Sunday 9/24.