Hello!

I have an ask of you all today. This will take 5 minutes of your time, but if we can do this in large numbers, it will make a big impact.

In the wake of the results of the election, many people have asked how they can help Soft Landing Missoula. Right now, the most important thing you can do is make direct calls to our elected officials in support of refugee resettlement. They have to hear from us so they know how valuable we believe this program to be- not only for those fleeing war and terror that are given a second chance at a better life for their families, but also for the reasons we benefit as a nation; diversity, entrepreneurship, compassion, and yes- security, to name a few.

If not us, who?

If not now, when?

Help support refugee resettlement!

The incoming president can stop or slow the flow of refugees. Please call your elected representatives.

1-866-940-2439, www.usa.gov/elected-officials

In Montana:

Senator Jon Tester: (202) 224-2644

Senator Steve Daines: (202) 224-2651

Congressman Ryan Zinke: (202) 225-3211

Tell them how much this program means to you and to Missoula as a safe and welcoming place for families driven from their homes by war and violence. The more positive voices are heard, the better. Feel free to share this information far and wide.  The link above has information for all States.

Hello!

Happy Election Day!  I am sure all of you have already turned in your ballots 😉  If not, I join the voices of the millions who have been working hard to encourage everyone to vote and send a reminder that voting is not only important on a National level, but also on a State level. Take a breath, clear your mind, and remember to enjoy the beauty and honor of living in such an incredible country that gives us the opportunity to have our voices heard. Celebrate this day with food and friends and family – And especially by voting. 

I would also like to extend a very warm invite to join us for a celebration!  Missoula’s “First Thanksgiving” will be an annual event hosted by Soft Landing Missoula and the International Rescue Committee and will bring the community together with Missoula’s newest residents to share a meal and introduce one of America’s favorite holidays- our holiday of welcome and thanks.  Please join me on Thursday Nov. 17th from 5pm to 8pm (dinner served around 5:45pm) to give a warm Missoula welcome and share a delicious traditional turkey dinner.  This is a ticketed event and the price of your ticket goes to help cover the meals of the new families.  Admission is $20 for adults, kids 5-12 are $12 and kids under 5 are free. You can get more information and purchase tickets here.

This last Sunday, we had a fabulous open house and celebration of achieving our Crowdrise fundraising goal at our new office- 939 Stephens Ave.  Thanks to all that joined us- especially the Missoula Women’s Choir and the Quilters for Peace. We are really looking forward to all the things we will be able to do with the space- everything from English/Academic tutoring, a computer lab, sewing and art classes that we at SLM will host, while at the same time offering space for any of our new families to host their own event, conversation, or class. A few of us have been working on and working out of this space for a few weeks and it just feels really good to be here- stop by and say “Hi” sometime!  We will be looking to “staff” regular hours with volunteers so let us know if this is something that interests you.  Things are still a bit bare in here and for our open house, we had a few “wish lists” pinned up on the walls. Many of you asked for me to email that list so here is the short version….

Requested items for the Soft Landing Missoula office:

Kids Playroom:
Toy storage- bins and shelving
Bean bag chairs
Rocker/glider

Office:
Basic tool kit
Snow shovel
Power strips
Newer computers – desktop/s for office and computer lab

Classroom:
Dry erase markers
Notebooks, folders, binders
Digital camera

Living room:
Two couches
Two coffee tables
Shelving
Large rug
Picture frames
Winter doormat
Coat tree
Clocks
Music system

Kitchen:
Microwave
Two kitchen chairs

Thank you all so much for your continued support, time and money to make this happen.  We look forward in the new year to having a robust schedule of gatherings and classes here at the office that people can participate in and all of the other ways that this office will bring our community together.

So close your computer, enjoy this beautiful day, go vote and make sure you celebrate a little too!

Hello!

1) See you all tomorrow night- Tuesday, November 1st, from 6-8p at the Urey Underground Lecture hall as we present information on “Refugee Resettlement in Missoula”.  Come learn the basics and hear first hand from Wilmot Collins, a Helena resident and former Liberian refugee. Q&A to follow.

2)The IRC has posted 2 additional part time positions for their Missoula office! You can find out more about them by going to rescue.org- careers- search jobs and apply- and selecting from the drop down menu US-MISSOULA-MT. Any further questions can be directed at missoula@rescue.org

3)Your generosity has overwhelmed our capacity once again!  The storage containers at the Seventh Day Adventist Church are full and we will be suspending drop off hours for a little while. We will be moving some of the stuff out during the month of November so if you can hold on to larger donations for a little bit, that would be appreciated. We will be sure to let you know when things open back up. If you do have items to donate, please email donate@softlandingmissoula.org so that we can get a basic inventory of what is out there and we may be able to move items directly into a house.  We are continuing to accept winter clothing and you can arrange drop off with our amazing Heather and Irene with the above email.

4) Our crowdrise campaign ends on Friday and we are getting there!  This weekend was amazing for donations and we only $4,000 left to go!  Please help us make that last push!  If 200 more people can give just $20, we will be there! Share on FB with your friends and give if you can.  We are counting on you to get the word out!  Could you commit to directly emailing 5 close friends and asking them to give? Any amount counts!  If you have already given, would you consider giving a little more? We can do this!

5) We will be celebrating the opening of Soft Landing Missoula’s new office 939 Stephens, Suite C this coming Sunday the 6th from 1-4!  Come by and say hi!  It will be an informal gathering with a few snacks and beverages and a chance to check out the new digs!

Hello!

I always think that I can make these things short, and then the list of exciting things piles up and the list of “thank yous” is fabulously never ending!  I am so so grateful for the hundreds of people that came out two answer both of our calls last week- first to demonstrate and show that Missoula is a community of inclusion that believes in freedom, compassion and opportunity for others! Eamon Ormseth and all of SALAM, thank you for organizing this!  You are brave and incredible and we stand behind your efforts. And secondly to create a “cars down the street, can hardly get in the door, standing room only” situation at Imagine Nation Brewing last Saturday night for our mid-way Crowdrise fundraising party where we raised a little over $3,000 in one night! If you guys haven’t been to Imagine Nation Brewing yet or haven’t met the owners- Fernanda and Robert- you need to! This is so much more than a brewery with incredible beer- they have created a community space for open dialogue and transformation and have been very generous and encouraging supporters of SLM from the beginning. They DONATED a pint for every contributor to the campaign that came to the party and let me tell you this was A LOT.  Missoula – you are AWESOME!

We have some really great new events coming up!

On November 1st from 6-8p in the Urey Lecture hall on UM Campus, we are putting on our second lecture in our “Soft Landing Missoula Presents!” series. We will be taking a closer look at refugee resettlement in Missoula. You will learn basics about the global refugee crisis, the resettlement process and what this looks like for Missoula.  In order to have a conversation about refugees, we need to be aware of how the process works. We have found that this basic information can be hard to find and even trickier to understand. Molly Short Carr (IRC) and I will be presenting on this information, and Wilmot Collins will be sharing his story of fleeing from Liberia and finding a new home in the Big Sky. If you haven’t had a chance yet to meet Wilmot and hear his story, he is amazing and we are so honored he will be joining us for this event. Following our speakers a question and answer period will take place, moderated by School of Journalism dean Larry Abramson.  We hope to have a full hour for audience questions and want to create a safe and open forum these questions.  To do this, we will be asking for people to submit their questions in writing for the moderator to read outloud.  Last month, we PACKED a 300 seat theater and had to turn many people away.  We will be using the Urey Lecture hall on UM Campus for this event and will hopefully be able to accommodate everyone there.  Please join us and check out the poster below for more info!

We have also been invited to participate in Council on the Radio next Wednesday!  On September 26th from 8:30- 10a on News Talk Radio KVGO 1290 you can listen in via radio or on the live stream online.  This should be a good show- Molly Short Carr from the IRC and I will be the guests and there will be opportunity to call in with questions about the content or about how you can get involved in the various opportunities and events we have going on!

Let’s talk about our Crowdrise Campaign a little!  We will be going till November 4th, but don’t delay! Have you been meaning to make a donation to our inspiring crowdrise campaign, but haven’t gotten to it yet? Today is the day! We have an amazing donor who has offered to match all gifts given for the next four days up to $1000. Give by Sunday and your impact will be doubled! We are blown away everyday by our community’s incredible generosity and support. Help us keep the momentum going – we can do this people!  Donate here and help us get this match, and remember to SHARE our campaign to keep the love going. 
Also, watch our new short video here, featuring the amazing Nancy de Pastino!  We are so so so thankful for our new friends Ryan Seitz and Bryan Bello for editing this footage and making this awesome clip!  
This campaign will make sure that we not only have many more opportunities for educational events such as our lecture series, but will also add a new level of bringing people together in our new Community Resource Center. You are all invited to an “office warming” party on November 6th from 1-4p at our new location (to be announced in a later email) to check out the space and hear about upcoming opportunities!

Many many people have also been donating household and clothing items and we are so grateful.  We are especially thrilled that we found two amazing volunteers to take on the time-consuming process of inventorying and organizing all of these things!  Thank you Irene and Heather!!!  Here is a reminder about donation hours and location:

Tuesday, Thursday and Sunday 5-7p – 800 South Ave.
– the graciously donated storage containers are located in the parking lot of the Seventh Day Adventist Church and are open and staffed during these times only.

Check out the end of this email for ideas on current needs or visit our website to read about “kits” that you can make with your family, friends, class or congregations! A note about clothing:  We don’t want to become a thrift store and are currently only accepting seasonally appropriate clothing such as coats, sweaters, boots, hats, gloves and long underwear. If you have any questions, you can email Heather here.

Whew!  You are all amazing and in the hard and sometimes heartbreaking work that Soft Landing Missoula is doing, we are continuously lifted up by this incredible community.  We are also inspired by our new residents, who continue to show us what it means to work hard to achieve a better life for your family and to open your arms to new people and new cultures.  As Robert put it at our party last Saturday- We aren’t here to “save” refugees, they are here to “save” us. They show us how to get past all of the divisive politics and misleading and scary rhetoric.  They show us humanity and love and community. Let’s continue to learn from each other, support each other and spread kindness and an excitement for what our lives can be together.

Hello!

Things are really cookin’ now! We have had a busy couple of weeks 😉

This past Tuesday, we put on the first in a series of lectures that take a more in-depth view at the regions in which refugees arriving in Missoula are coming from.  This lecture was of course on the Congo and we PACKED the UC Theater (capacity is around 300) and unfortunately had to turn away close to 100 people due to capacity restrictions and fire regulations! Many thanks to our volunteers and sponsors for doing a great job at spreading the word! Our two speakers were amazing- Paul Robinson shared his lifetime of knowledge, experiences and relationships in the Congo and Molly Short Carr helped us visualize a day in the life of refugees that have been living in camps in East Africa.  It was such an informative and thoughtful presentation- including some of the really great questions from the audience. There is nothing like presenting on a university campus to be in awe of an audience’s depth of thinking- thank you for that!  For anyone who wasn’t able to get in or couldn’t make it for other reasons- MCAT was there recording the whole thing and will have this video ready for us in the next month.  We will be posting it on our website and FB page and I will let you know when it is up!  Also, many new people signed up for our newsletter at this event- remember to visit our website and fill out our volunteer form if you want to get more involved! 

I am going to try to keep this brief today but we spent a bit of time in the last couple of weeks trying to make our in-kind donation efforts a bit more streamlined and manageable 😉  I am so so overjoyed at the generosity of Missoulians, but admittedly, in-kind donation organization has been a time consuming- but so necessary- thing. We are so grateful for the patience that the Bike Hangar has had with our use of the very graciously offered trailer temporary drop-off location and the Missoula Seventh Day Adventist Church for the new space provided (details below!). PS- if anyone out there has a knack for this sort of thing and the time to lead a team of a few folks to help and wants to step in to take the lead on this- by all means, please let me know!  Here are a few things we have come up with:

1) We have made a list of “Kits” that are on the Take Action page of our website. These are ways that you can make an easily identified and stored kit that can be given to families in need. These kits range from Kitchen to Bathroom to Cleaning to Recreation.  This is also a great way to get your church involved by having a Kit Drive!  You can contact me (or the new amazing person that is going to step up to take the lead once they read this newsletter and get SUPER EXCITED to help!) for suggestions on specific kits we may be needing at certain times.

2)New drop of location and hours:

The Missoula Seventh Day Adventist Church at 800 South Ave W. has rented a storage container and will be holding drop-off hours Sunday, Tuesday and Thursday from 5-7 each day. This will start this Sunday the 2nd.  We are so so so thankful! Everyone who has been waiting for me to get back to you since my garage is full- this is it!

We will be accepting these specific items CLEAN AND IN GOOD SHAPE:

-Furniture- couches, dressers, tables, chairs, etc…
-Kitchen Items
-Small Appliances
-Bedding
-Other household items such as lamps, clocks, etc…
-Winter Clothing- coats, hats, boots, gloves, scarves, new or like new long underwear, sweaters…
-We are still trying to work out clothing donations outside of specific “drives” (ie: winter or summer), but if it is clean and in a tidy lidded or stackable container, you may drop these things off as well.

We can’t accept:

Mattresses
Pillows
Anything that is broken or “over used” or not really that useful (we don’t need half burned bacon scented candles…) 
This location is going to be staffed to try and prevent a mess (huh, saw that one coming!). Please be thoughtful with your donations. 

3) We have a really cool bike program happening with Free Cycles!  In conjunction with our volunteers and translators, they have been able to help families pick out and fix up bikes as well give basic instruction on bike safety.  Anyone who has a bike to donate to this program can drop it off at Free Cycles and let them know it is for Soft Landing Missoula and PLEASE follow up your donation with an email to Greta  so we know it is there and can keep track (Email: gretabates@gmail.com Subject: Bike Donation).  We are also looking for donated helmets, lights, and locks- specifically U-Locks, and these have been a little more difficult to track down so donations are much appreciated! Please don’t drop these items off at Free Cycles, but email Greta to arrange….

4) Are we cool enough to raise a ton of money for our new Community Resource Center and continuing to make our vision of a welcoming Missoula a reality sustainable?!?!  You bet we are!  

This coming week, we will be launching a Crowdrise Campaign to do just that!  Our amazing volunteers have been working thier butts off to make a super sweet video that I can’t wait to share with you all!  Thank you so so much LynnWood, Alex and Seth!

Please join in helping us reach our goal of raising $30,000 by the end of October, not only by donating what makes sense for you, but by sharing this campaign far and wide- we want to circle the globe!  Also, save the date for October 15th for a “Mid-way” Party at Imagine Nation Brewing from 4-7!  More info to follow!

Another event to keep in mind:  The International Rescue Committee’s Missoula Office is hosting an exhibition of photos that University of Montana Journalism Department students took when reporting on the integration of refugees in Berlin this summer. Curated by UM alum and documentarian Shane Macmillan, the show testifies to the common humanity and resilience our young photo journalists experienced during their trip. I’m delighted to share the invite with you and am very much looking forward to seeing you at the IRC’s new office in the Solstice Building near Broadway and Russell on First Friday, Oct. 7.

OK! I am going to wrap this up with our VOLUNTEER OF THE MONTH!  It is getting harder and harder and harder to pick from all of the amazing volunteers that are making a soft landing for refugees a reality.  For the month of October (a few days early), I picked two!  Our amazing wife and husband duo, Tami and Jim, are rocking it on a family mentor team and working above and beyond to guide their family through the challenging process that is learning a new country, city and culture.  Thank you so so so so much for the extended hours you have put in this week and your amazing love and commitment.  We are so lucky to have you as volunteers!

I always try to wrap this thing up with a little story, and this has already been a long one, so I will be brief.  One of the things that is so cool is to find activities that transcend cultural and language barriers and bring people together.  Two things are emerging already here- soccer (of course!) and music (of course!).  It has been our pleasure to watch many of the kids (and some of the adults!) begin to participate on existing soccer teams and to watch families find a place in Missoula’s church choirs and music programs.  We are already seeing communities grow to include new teammates, places of worship and friends. We have brought a few people together in our mentor teams to help guide folks on their journey here, but the greater Missoula community is continuing to open their hearts and lives, organically, to our new neighbors.  We are growing together Missoula.

Hello!

Has it really been 2 weeks or did I just blink?  Wow- I am going to keep this one brief.  There are a few things that I do really want to share with you all though…

Our 4th family arrived last night- Yay! Our mentor teams are really stepping it up to help families and we are learning so much as we go!  We always knew there would be a lot of things to think about when helping a family make the adjustment from a refugee camp to life in Missoula, but wow- I’m talking LOTS of things! I appreciate the ingenuity and patience our volunteers have with us as we continue to work out kinks and build our program! I am also grateful to the amazing counselors and employees with MCPS who are taking wonderful care of their newest students and also providing us council on how we can continue to collaborate to ease the transition for the kiddos.

 A few of us spent yesterday afternoon and evening getting one of the previously arrived families into their permanent housing, and it was so amazing to see the kids make fast friends with the other kids that live nearby as they played on borrowed scooters 😉 There is space and grass and nice neighbors.  They are exhausted but very, very happy.  Great work IRC gals and the family mentor team!! Thanks to all of the folks who have stepped up to help us with our initial housing challenges- we are on track now and will continue to work out these kinks that come with building a new program.

I am really excited for our event on Tuesday night in which we will take a closer look at the Congo and try to understand a bit of the history that has caused the refugee situation in East Africa, as well as a look at the culture and lives of people from the Congo.  There will also be a talk and photo story of life in the East African refugee camps where Missoula’s newest residents had been living for 15+ years.  It is going to be informative and inspiring and I will see you all there!  Check out the poster below and feel free to share this free event with your friends and neighbors on facebook.

Now is time for another installment of Volunteer of the Month!!!! Greta Bates!!!!  This amazing woman has been with us since early spring and has been essential in our basic operations since then.  On top of all of the things we put on her plate as she helps us to gather and organize a resource list, she has taken on organizing our Bike program and partnership with Free Cycles AND is the leader of one of our family mentor teams!  This lady is non-stop and always smiling.  Thank you Greta for your commitment and obvious love of what we are doing.  

I continue to be in awe of Missoula’s commitment to kindness, compassion and opportunity for others!  This was evidenced in the City Council voting to pass a resolution this past Monday to participate in “Welcoming Communities”- a White House initiative that highlights cities like ours, who have taken an inward and outward look at how we can do our best for our immigrant and refugee community members!  Thank you once again to our elected officials for your support!

Hello!

I just changed the “wallpaper” on my phone. I now have a picture of my crazy blond curly headed son, Jack, (ok, let’s face it- he was a part of the last picture on my wallpaper too) sitting next to a radiant, wide eyed and smiling 3 year old from the Congo. Wow. This is how he will grow up. This is just one of the gifts that refugees will give our community and our children- a legacy of compassion, global awareness, of a world larger than their own.  A legacy of friendship with people that don’t look like you, don’t always sound like you or dress like you.  We have been blessed these last couple weeks with 6 new friends- Jack especially as “Jack! Jack! Jack!” followed by copious amounts of giggling seems to be one of their new favorite English words.  On the outings where I have been present, the family has received a kind, warm and excited welcome- in English, French and YES! even quite a bit of Swahili!  The updates I receive from the 5 “Family Mentors” as they are helping to guide the family through what must be such a new and crazy time for them are honest, thorough and heartwarming.  We are learning a lot about how to best help guide people in their new homes and I am sure, will always continue to learn more.

In the coming week, another Congolese family will arrive.  Things are moving quickly now and even with all of our preparation, there are just some things you don’t know until you get there!  One thing we always knew would be a challenge at first, is helping to secure housing.  Refugees, although they do come with a pretty good reference- called the United States Department of State- they don’t come with a credit history.  In cities where programs are more established, there are excellent relationships between refugees and landlords/property managers, due in large part to the refugees excellent track record for being good tenants. There is also the support of the resettlement agency- in this case, the IRC- a highly acclaimed international organization, that helps new families navigate renting a house for the first time.  Soft Landing Missoula had previously reached out to some property managers with a very positive response, so we know there is interest and available housing.  The issue we are running into right now is that many property owners/managers are requiring that someone co-sign the lease with each family.  We know this isn’t really a sustainable way to move forward, but move forward we must- with the faith that once our program is more established and our property owners/managers start to build relationships with the refugees and the IRC, this will become easier. So, I guess I am asking a few things….1) Does anyone have a 3 bedroom apartment/house that is available for rent (with or without a co-sign) or other size housing moving forward 2) would anyone be willing to have a more in depth conversation with the IRC about what it would look like to co-sign a lease with a family and 3) we would love to see families get right into permanent housing so there lives aren’t disrupted twice, but let us know if you have a temporary housing situation available for a 7 person family.  You can answer the call for any of those things by emailing me at info@softlandingmissoula.org

On the flip side- with the recent family’s arrival and some of the press this and other occurrences have generated in the past few weeks, poor Molly Cottrell has been working her fingers to the bone to respond to all of the new volunteer requests!  How many you say?! How about 137 new volunteer requests and new newsletter subscribers in 2 weeks! You guys are amazing!  We want to say thank you- thank you for your interest and mostly, thank you for your patience!  We are slowly building more and more opportunity for volunteers to participate- from heavier time commitments such as the 5 person Family Mentor teams to helping out for an hour or so at an event- we are building a strong and sustaining program and volunteers will be the heart of it.

What is that you say? Events? Yes!  We have officially scheduled our first in a series of lectures that are designed to take a closer look at the regions in which the refugees we will be welcoming to Missoula are coming from.  Our first talk that takes place on September 20th at the University Center Theater from 6p-8p will, of course, focus on the Democratic Republic of Congo, with a special look at the East African refugee camps for the Congolese.  We have two fabulous speakers and will have a Q&A session to follow.  Check out the event on facebook.  It is a free event that should be very interesting!  We will see you there!

Another “happening” in the next couple weeks that we should all be aware of and try to attend is the City Council meeting on September 12th at 7p in Council Chambers ( 140 W. Pine St.).  Many members of Missoula’s City Council were some of our very first supporters and volunteers, and on the 12th they will be voting on a resolution to initiate participation in a White House campaign titled “Building Welcoming Communities” that outwardly expresses Missoula’s priority to promote compassion, kindness and opportunity for all.  This will be a public meeting and it is important that we show up to support this resolution. Please join me there! You can even prepare a short (2-3 min) statement about why you support this resolution if you are feeling up to it!

If you have made it this far, I will leave you with this…

The first time I got the privilege of meeting this first family, I accompanied them to the Farmer’s Market a couple weeks ago on their second full day here.  As we were walking up Higgins toward the market at the XXXX’s, the Mom, Nyota, was walking next to me, just looking back and forth, up and down. I heard her let out a sigh and a quiet “Missoula. Missoula”. I smiled at her and tried to say “Home” in Swahili to which she repeated “Missoula, Home”.  We shared a quick little laugh. It was only later that I found out that she might not have been saying “Missoula” at all, but “nzuri”, the Swahili word for “good”. They sound surprisingly similar, and yeah, that works too 😉 
P.S. And yes, you noticed it, our groovy new logo…. Thanks again Ali and Miranda!  Miranda has also posted all of our previous newsletters on the website, so check them out if you missed one or are new!

Hello!

 

Well folks- here goes!  Our first family! A Congolese family of 6- Mom, Dad and 4 kids, have been officially accepted into the new Missoula IRC resettlement program and will be arriving in the next few weeks!  The last month especially has been a whirlwind as we have been solidifying plans, organizing volunteers and working closely with the IRC in preparation to help make Missoula home for this family and those that will follow. Thanks so so much to the volunteers who have stepped up to be on committees and part of Mentor teams.  

As has always been our most fortunate experience, we have more volunteers than jobs 😉 This will not always be the case and I assure you, if you don’t have a role for this first family, you will have a role in the near future and we so appreciate you. One area in which we want to be sensitive is to not overwhelm the possibly exhausted travelers and give them space to find a bit of peace and a breath upon their arrival here in Missoula.  I know that we are all feeling compelled to show welcome and are very excited to meet our new neighbors and hear their stories, but this needs to be on their time frame.  There may be people that come ready and willing to share these stories and their time and energy with all, and there may be those who need the space to retreat for a while.  I know that we all understand and will be respectful of this.  

One of the many things the IRC is in the process of organizing for this family is housing.  We have helped them start the process of forming relationships and reaching out to landlords and property managers, but wanted to put the “need” out to you all as well.  The IRC is looking for a 3 bedroom house or apartment for this family.  There are of course special challenges- and opportunities!- that come to renting to refugees, but if you know of anyone you think we should be in touch with, or are aware of any available housing that we should look into, please let me know by responding to this email or contacting me.

All of you wonderful folks who have been holding onto household donations, we finally have a spot for these to go!  The Bicycle Hangar – 1801 Brooks Street location only– has very generously offered space to serve as a drop-off location. They are ready to receive items during business hours and we are planning on setting up the apartment/house (as yet to be found) in the next couple of weeks.  If you have larger items that it would be smarter to only move once, please contact me and we can arrange to have them dropped off at the actual rental when we are ready. Molly Short Carr from the IRC has identified these items as the most important for us to try and provide so they don’t have to be purchased with the tiny amount of money granted each family.

• Couch
• Love seats
• Chairs
• Table and Chairs
• Bed Frames
• Pots and Pans
• Dish Sets
• Blankets
• Twin sheet sets
• Dressers

We have also been brainstorming about clothing donations as many of you have shown interest in this as well. I encourage you to donate clothes, but it is a challenge to directly give clothing to individuals due to size and preference. Something that has worked in other locations is a “Clothes Closet” where people can come select from available clothing once or twice a week.  Once SLM has space, this is something we may be able to do, but in the meantime if anyone knows of a small free space to run this out of (possibly a church?) I would love to chat 😉

Many people have expressed interest in learning more about the Congo and the refugees that are coming our way.  We have just updated our website and have a great and growing “Incoming Refugees” page.  We are also making plans for an event in mid-September to talk about historical and present day issues facing the Congo and the Congolese people, as well as learn about celebrate Congolese culture.  There will be more details coming on this event soon so stay tuned!

Lastly- we are starting a new tradition of Volunteer of the Month!  Our first award goes to Miranda Bradley!  We are so so lucky to have this awesome woman on our team! Just in the last few weeks, she has helped take our website to a new level, has worked furiously at transferring all of our great resources from our Facebook “Group” to a more versatile “Page”, has stepped up to be on our Outreach and Education Committee and on top of all this, has dreams of teaching refugee children how to swim 😉  We love you Miranda and appreciate all you are doing!

Truly, I love and appreciate you all. I have spent a lot of time in the last year trying to figure out how to soften and make more productive the conversation around issues related to refugee resettlement.  I absolutely feel this is necessary and important, but I also want you to know that I am so proud of the good we are doing in the world.  I am proud that we will be making a difference in the lives of individuals and families that have been so affected by the horrors of war and challenges of trying to make a life in a refugee camp. I am absolutely smitten by the new Refugee Olympic Team and I really believe that we are doing our own little part to spread the same hope, peace and opportunity that these new Olympians are so bravely showing the world. I am proud of you.