April 18 Newsletter: Spring Events.

by Adam Hendrickson

Three cheers for springtime in Montana!  This may mean sun, or it may even mean a little snow, but it definitely means getting out and about!  It has been so fun this spring to run into many of our families down town at First Friday, on the bike trails, and at the park as the weather has gotten nicer. If you too are looking to get out, we have just the thing to cure your spring adventure needs as our calendar is filling up fast with really exciting events!

Spring also means getting out on bikes! Thank you to everyone who has come through with bike donations and wanting to help folks learn the trails and safe biking routes. We are still actively looking for bikes, u-locks, and helmets for adults and kiddos. Let us know if you would like to pass any of these things on to us. 😉

Thank you as always to our wonderful volunteers. I want to highlight one opportunity that we are really needing help with currently.  We have always helped with, but recently completely taken on new Home Set-up. We do have families scheduled for Missoula soon and are wanting to get our committee and process set. Let us know if you want to lead or join a team of 15-20 people and commit to helping with at least one home set up a month. The team will help solicit and organize donations, find needed items at garage sales and second hand stores, move furniture, and set up new homes for incoming families. We are looking for people with trucks, people with muscle, people who are organized, people who are great bargain hunters and people who can decorate and make a place feel homey.  We are also, of course, always looking for all of the larger items needed to set up homes- couches, dressers, tables, chairs etc..  For this and other possibilities on how to get involved with us please visit the NEW! Volunteer page on our website and/or request to join our Facebook volunteer group. 

– In love and gratitude, Mary Poole

P.S. Our car donation drive is also still alive and well!  We have another graduate who is now fully licensed in the state of Montana and we are searching for a vehicle for this family of four. We also may have found a way to make this tax-deductible for folks, so let me know if you would like to chat! Email Info@softlandingmissoula.org.

APRIL 24-30: Celebrate Islam in Missoula

This is the second annual event put on by SALAM Missoula. Of special note: On Tuesday, April 25, Soft Landing Missoula is co-sponsoring a screening of the Oscar-winning film “The White Helmets,” which follows a group of relief workers as they try to save civilian lives amid the chaos in Syria. Get all the details on the full schedule or visit the event on Facebook! We are also especially excited for the opening dinner on Monday, April 24, featuring a meal cooked by members of our Arab refugee community and other Missoulians. More details about the dinner on Facebook. You can reserve a spot through Eventbrite.  

Full schedule for the week.

APRIL 30: When One Becomes Many

Six recently arrived Congolese refugee families have created a play to share their experiences and lives with Missoula. This is going to be incredible and we got even more excited when we read the latest Montana Kaimin article and saw the great video teaser. This is not to miss! The performance is Sunday, April 30, at 7 p.m. in the University Center at the University of Montana. More information & RSVP on Facebook.

MAY 4 & 5: Missoula Gives

Soft Landing Missoula is participating in Missoula Gives. On May 4th and 5th from 6 p.m. – 6 p.m., the community will come together to contribute to the nonprofits that help make Missoula a wonderful place to live. Mark your calendar!

MAY 10 & 18: Dialogue Across the Divide

Join us as we explore how to more comfortably engage in thoughtful and compassionate dialogue around refugees and other controversial subjects. Save the date for this training! Forms to sign up will be available soon! May 10th and 18th, 6 p.m. – 9 p.m., UCC. 

JUNE 17: First Annual Missoula World Refugee Day Cup

This is also a “save the date” with registration and more details available soon but this all-day event will be amazing! More details (well, as much as we know right now).

SUPPORTER STORY: Liz Colantuono


Our supporter stories series, “With Open Arms: Stories about Supporting Refugee Resettlement in Missoula” has been so inspiring. Please read the latest!

“Dialogue Across the Divide” – Conversation Training

by Adam Hendrickson

Have you ever been too nervous to engage in conversation with neighbors, friends, and family around refugees or other potentially divisive topics? Or maybe you have no trouble diving in, but you find it rarely goes well? Do you want to learn more about ways that we can use dialogue to create a welcoming community for all? 

Then join Soft Landing Missoula as we explore “Dialogue Across the Divide” and gain new skills to more comfortably exist in this challenging space. This two-session training will be co-facilitated by Robert Rivers and Fernanda Barreto Krum with Imagine Nation Brewing and Betsy Mulligan Dague with the Jeanette Rankin Peace Center.  Together, they bring decades of experience working in situations of conflict at home and abroad to promote peace and healing in communities. Mary Poole with Soft Landing Missoula will also cover a few ways to use your new skills to promote a safe and welcoming home for refugees here in Missoula. Attendance will be capped at 20-25 to provide a quality interactive experience for all participants so register below!

When: Wednesday May 10th from 6 p.m. – 9 p.m. and Thursday May 18th from 6 p.m. – 9 p.m.
Where: Fireside Room at the UCC Church- 405 University Ave, Missoula, MT 59801
Cost: $35. Includes pizza, non-alcoholic beverages, and coffee/tea both nights. Limited scholarships available.



Register Now


Apply for Scholarship

Volunteer Spotlight: Andi

by Adam Hendrickson


Andi is a superstar Soft Landing volunteer. She comes in once a week with her lovely daughter to help sort and organize donations. We could not manage without her. But that is not all – she is also a Family Mentor, working with several of our recently arrived families. Her warm personality and dedication are appreciated every day. Thank you Andi for your amazing work!

A Brief Look at the Democratic Republic of the Congo

by Adam Hendrickson

Missoula first welcomed refugees from the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) in August of 2016. We have since received multiple families from the mid-African country, and have had several opportunities within the community where we have been able to get to know and learn from our new neighbors.

People from the DRC often speak multiple languages, the most common being Kikongo, Lingala, Tshiluba and Swahili. French is also commonly spoken in the African country (DR Congo Country Profile). Approximately 50% of the DRC population is Roman Catholic, and while Christianity is a dominant faith in the country, it is often combined with the Kimbanguist Church which was developed by a Congolese preacher in the 1920s. On the eastern side of the DRC there is a strong presence of the Muslim faith (Our Africa).

Music and dance are of great cultural importance in the DRC, and a common style of music called soukous arose from jazz and rumba in the 1940s. Check out the video below by Hold DRC for a lesson in traditional Congolese dance!

Shaking hands with your right hand is a common way to greet someone in the DRC, and same sex people holding hands is a common way of demonstrating friendship. Food is commonly eaten using only your fingers and popular foods are ugali, beans, rice, fish and lots of vegetables (DRC Customs and Culture). Check out our page on the DRC for more information!

Celebrate Islam in Missoula, April 24-30

by Adam Hendrickson

A delicious Middle Eastern meal cooked by refugee families, an Oscar-winning film about Syrian rescue workers and a keynote address by a nationally recognized Muslim scholar are among the highlights of Celebrate Islam Week April 24-30.

The week’s events, sponsored by SALAM, Standing Alongside America’s Muslims, mark the second annual Celebrate Islam Week. SALAM is a Missoula group dedicated to supporting our Muslim neighbors through education, understanding and informed, respectful discussion.


• At a banquet Monday, April 24, at First Presbyterian Church, 235 S 5th St. West, diners will be treated to Middle Eastern dishes prepared by refugees and Missoula residents. Places are reserved at SALAMMissoula.eventbrite.com and payment is made at the door ($15 for adults, $10 for students and seniors).

• Ambassador Mark Johnson will introduce the Academy Award-winning film, “The White Helmets” at a free showing Tuesday night, April 25, at 7 p.m. at the UC Theater on the UM campus. The 40-minute documentary, co-sponsored by Soft Landing Missoula, follows courageous rescue workers in war-torn Syria. It will be followed by a 30-minute panel discussion. See the Facebook event for more details.

• On Wednesday, April 26, students who studied abroad in Morocco and the United Arab Emirates will discuss their experiences in the Islamic world in Room 305 of the UM Forestry Building, beginning at 6:30 p.m.

• Dawood Yasin of Zaytuna College in Berkeley, Calif., the first Islamic liberal arts college in the United States, will deliver the keynote address, focusing on Islam’s long history in this country and America’s Muslim community today. Yasin’s speech will be at 7 p.m. Thursday, April 27, in Urey Lecture Hall on the UM campus.

• Earlier the same day (Thursday, April 27) at a noon luncheon at Emmaus House, 532 University Ave., Eamon Ormseth will lead a discussion on “What Do Muslims Need? How Allies Can Help.”

• Two weekend events at Congregation Har Shalom, 3035 S Russell St., cap Celebrate Islam Week: Dances of Universal Peace at 6 p.m. Saturday, April 29, and “Crossing the Bridge,” a ritual of connection designed to help overcome the barriers that separate us, at 2 p.m. on Sunday, April 30.

Supporter Stories: Liz Colantuono

by Adam Hendrickson


“(Working with refugees), it intrigued me and I found it interesting and it was always in the back of my mind… so when Mary Poole and I bumped into each other, we first became reacquainted. It was the kind of conversation where I asked her what are you up to, what are you doing. She told me about starting Soft Landing. I told her I was really interested in getting involved and helping her out with that project because I felt it to be a worthwhile way to help the stranger at our door.” – Liz Colantuono, Mentor Leader at IRC

Photos and Interview by Elliott Natz

Supporter Stories: Mike Stark (2/2)

by Adam Hendrickson


“They sounded like people that were in need, really. It seemed like a much better situation having people help these families that were moving into our community rather than not and just having these families fend for themselves. I just wanted to try and be part of that process. I didn’t really think about it too much. I just kinda read about it and jumped into it. That’s just kind of how I do things.” – Mike Stark

—

Photos and interview by @elliott_natz.

See first post.

Volunteer, Stop SB97, Soccer, and More

by Adam Hendrickson

Volunteers!

I am continually inspired and struck by the dedication and time our volunteers have committed to make Soft Landing Missoula’s vision of a safe, welcoming, and informed community possible. 

As Molly, our Volunteer Coordinator (and more) was working hard this week to pull additonal resources and information together for folks to make it easier to volunteer (see below), she came across a quote that I can’t stop thinking about, “Volunteers are not paid; not because they are worthless, but because they are invaluable.”  We couldn’t agree more! We could not be doing any of our work without such incredible volunteers in our lives. You bless this community. 

For the next twelve weeks, we are highlighting a handful of volunteers in a portrait campaign–again, thanks to another amazing volunteer! We are so excited to share our first supporter story today. Read on for more! 

Thanks for being amazing!

In gratitude,

Mary Poole

Supporter Story: Mike Stark


Mike 1 website.jpg

“(Working with the family), it made some of the difficulties and hardships that these families are going through, whether they are here or in Europe or Africa, wherever they are, very real and very tangible.” Read more.

Here’s how you get involved!

We are trying to do a better job of letting people know about volunteer opportunities through Soft Landing Missoula, as needs can change daily. So, you now have two ways to find volunteer opportunities with us:

  1. Request to join our closed Facebook group – Soft Landing Missoula Volunteers.
  2. Check our new Volunteer page on our website for a list of current opportunities.

Thank you Missoula!

Help Needed: April 9th Storage Unit Cleanout

On April 9, from 2 – 6 p.m., please join us for an hour or more to help sort through old donations, clean out our storage unit and reorganize what we need to keep. We will need lots of hands, several trucks to make Goodwill runs and people with an eye for organization. Contact: volunteer@softlandingmissoula.org to sign up.

Last Chance: Encourage Bullock to Veto SB97

This is URGENT. We only have a couple days to accomplish this goal! Please call and/or email Governor Bullock and encourage him to veto SB 97.  

By Phone: 406-444-3111 or Toll Free: 855-318-1330
By Email (please fill out the form)
https://governor.mt.gov/Home/Contact/shareopinion

For more details, read this post.

Missoula Gives: May 4th & 5th

Soft Landing Missoula is participating in Missoula Gives on May 4th and 5th from 6 p.m. – 6 p.m. Save the date and read more about how you can support us.

Save the Date! First Annual Missoula World Refugee Day Cup – June 17th

What?!?!  That’s right folks!  If there are 3 things we have found that unite communities across all cultures, it is soccer, food, and music!  So, in honor of World Refugee Day, we decided to bring you all three! While we work out details with our partners, we wanted to be able to at least give you the date, June 17th, and a general idea of times to mark on your calendars. Learn more!

Instagram

You can now follow us on Instagram! Check out @softlandingmissoula.

Interested in Volunteering?

by Adam Hendrickson


There are so many ways to get involved! We are trying to do a better job of letting people know about volunteer opportunities through Soft Landing Missoula, as needs can change daily. So, you now have two ways to find volunteer opportunities with us:

  1. Request to join our closed Facebook group – Soft Landing Missoula Volunteers.
  2. Check our new Volunteer page on our website for a list of current opportunities.

We could not do it without our amazing volunteers, so thank you!