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.

Hello!

 

OK! This is a long one!  You will want to read it all though because it is exciting stuff!

What a dynamic last couple of weeks we have had!  This past week we had the pleasure of meeting the new Executive Director for the Missoula IRC office and let me tell you folks- we lucked out!  Molly Short-Carr is amazing. She is fun and sassy and energetic and seems like she will fit right in here in Missoula! On top of this she has extensive experience in refugee resettlement as the Executive Director for a resettlement program in Buffalo, NY, and most recently, has experience on the refugee “intake” side while working in Nairobi, Kenya for the past 2 years.  With everything that goes into starting a new program, I have all the faith that this positive, unflappable, and well-spoken woman will do a spectacular job.  I can’t wait for you all to meet her!

On that note, we have had some updates on what the next couple months may bring. It looks like our first few families will be arriving by late August/early September and will most likely be refugees from the Democratic Republic of Congo. We are so excited for the arrival of the first family, but realize we have A LOT of work to do in a short period of time. Over the next couple weeks as we continue to learn more about the conflict, culture and people of the DRC, I will be sharing this info with you. We may even have time to have a gathering around these topics and if this is something anyone would like to assist in putting together, let me know…. As I wrote earlier, Molly Short-Carr is coming from working in that area of the world, has extensive knowledge of the situation and will be helping to guide us through this learning.

As August is rapidly approaching, SLM is nailing down our initial programing and I would like to take the time to share some of that with you here.  First and foremost, we officially have a Board of Directors for SLM. Look for their names and biographical information to be posted soon on our website! They are all spectacular and we are so grateful for their participation!

We have formed committees around 1) Education and Outreach 2) Program Development 3) Fundraising and 4) Governance.

The Education and Outreach Committee will focus on interactions with the Missoula (and Montana) community. We will be working on providing educational meetings, cross-cultural trainings and a media plan. This committee will work closely with the IRC to collaborate on outreach and utilize some of their amazing resources for education across the state as well as for volunteers working with refugees. This committee will also continue to support the relationships and work that has previously been started with our city’s leaders, facilities and organizations that will be interacting with refugees.

The Program Development Committee will try to select the most important things for initial focus from our 801 fun ideas.  These programs will focus on assisting refugees to integrate into our community through mentorship and service projects, creating a gathering space to bring Missoulians and refugees together and continuing to organize and begin to harness all of the amazing volunteers. This committee will work closely with the IRC to understand where needs are popping up and collaborate on filling the gaps.  We are especially excited to also pull young people into these programs as many of the refugees will be children and we have gotten a groundswell of interest from Middle School and High School aged kids who want to be a part of this. So amazing.

The Fundraising Committee will begin to put together a more serious and structured fundraising campaign so we can actualize the above goals.  We will begin to work towards 1 full time and 1 part time paid staff positions as a way to create a sustaining organization.

The Governance Committee will help guide the creation of a strong and legally compliant organization as we move forward into a more formal structure.

Why do I tell you all this? Because this is what you all have been waiting for and our success will be highly dependent on amazing supporters and volunteers such as yourselves!

So here are the 3 calls to action….

1) Let me know if you are interested in serving on one of the first 3 committees (minus the Governance one, which you really don’t want to be on anyway! Ha!).  Please specify which committee. We will be asking for serious volunteers for this that will be able to commit to make it to at least 1 meeting a month and volunteer at least 5 hours a month toward committee goals.

2) In conjunction with the IRC, we are looking for volunteers for a Friendship/Mentorship program.  We are hoping to build teams of 5 volunteers for each incoming family that will serve as tour guides, community liaisons, advocates and most importantly- friends.  Since we will most likely be seeing one family at a time, this will start slow and we won’t be able to utilize everyone right away that will want to participate in this. That said, we do want to get 3 teams of 5 set in anticipation of our first 3 families.  This will also involve a longer term commitment to these families.  We want to create some sense of normalcy and security in the storm that will be the first bit of their life here.

3) I’m going to say it.  We need money to help our organization reach its full potential and promote our vision of helping Missoula be a welcoming, supportive and informed community that has the capacity to assist refugees to integrate and thrive.  If this is a possibility for you, please consider a tax deductible donation to Soft Landing Missoula. You can Donate-

1) Through our website

2) By check made out to the Jeanette Rankin Peace Center with Soft Landing Missoula in the memo and sent to P.O. Box 8733, Missoula, Mt 59807 or

3) By cash/check delivered to the storefront at the JRPC at 519 S. Higgins Ave. – again, specify Soft Landing Missoula.

We are so very grateful for you all and look forward to all that is to come!

It is also of note that some amazing volunteers have revamped our website and it looks spectacular so make sure you check it out! Thank you Miranda and Ali!

Ok… You have made it to the end.  Here, I will write my final comments about the beginning… This is it.  We have arrived. The IRC office is here.  We know a more accurate projection for our first families that will be arriving soon. More programs are beginning to take shape. This is the beginning of the hard work, commitment and amazing opportunity we have made a reality.  It now begins and I feel so honored for all of you that have made it a priority in your lives to help families that have been forced to flee horrendous situations and are in need of a safe and welcoming home.  Let’s do this!

Hello!

 

Well, summer is here! I got to spend yesterday in Caras Park at the Missoula Made Fair and I wanted to thank our volunteers that helped staff the Soft Landing booth, and all of the new folks that signed up to learn more us and get involved!  It was a beautiful day and it looks like we have many more of those over the coming week!

Another interesting happening that bears mentioning: Missoula will be visited this week by the Tug collective with a project titled “Who Eats at Taco Bell?”   In their words, Who Eats at Taco Bell? is a socially-engaged-art platform for thinking about how the interlocking dynamics of immigration, social race, and colonialism in U.S.-American history continue to resonate with personal and political notions of movement, belonging, and identity. Their goal with this project is to create a collaborative situation for kindling critical (but accessible) discussion about immigration and racial justice. Although there will be multiple antecedents propelling our project forward, the ultimate vehicle for creating this collaborative framework will be a 2-month expedition on the Lewis and Clark Trail, in the summer of 2016 leading up to the U.S. Presidential Election, making tacos with people with whom we come in contact and activating participation via a multi-sensorial/multimedia installation, all in an effort to seed and extend conversations about what it means to inhabit a place, at this particular point in time.  Wow.  I am excited to meet these guys and hope you will join me at the Frontier Space Gallery this First Friday to welcome them and have conversations, and hear about their cross country exploration!

I also wanted to let everyone know that, although maybe not as creative as the above mentioned event, our first Ally Training was a success!  It was so wonderful to work with NCBI in designing and teaching this short course and I am very grateful for their time and expertise!  The students not only learned a lot, but so did we and it will be a priority moving forward to offer more of these “Ally Trainings” and well as other short courses on topics of diversity and cultural competency.  These are things to look for in the fall!

Almost all of the Soft Landing Board interviews have taken place and we could not be more thrilled for who this has brought to the table.  I think we are going to have a very strong board moving forward- and just in time to help with the endless tasks involved in becoming our own non-profit!  We have been very busy writing by-laws, filling out paperwork, distilling our million ideas into a manageable few to start with and working on fundraising plans- wow- who knew this is what we signed up for?!   Although challenging and time consuming, it is surprisingly interesting and I am thankful to be learning and acquiring new skills 😉  We are still looking for our “home” to run a Community Resource Center and operate our programs out of, so if anyone had any leads, please send them our way!

Ok, ok, so can we get an update on the refugees please?  The IRC’s office plans are moving along nicely and I got the chance to pre-view their new office space a little over a week ago. With a mini-build up, it is really going to be a nice space and even though it is the IRC’s office, I feel such a part of it and hope you all do to.  They have been so wonderful to work with and I continue to feel so lucky that it is the IRC that has landed back in Missoula.  Bob Johnson, with the IRC, will be back in July to check on the construction and start getting it all dialed in.  The new Executive Director for the IRC will be arriving in Missoula from Nairobi in mid-July, the two other positions will be decided then (I think) and the office should be up and running shortly after that.  We are projected to see our first refugees sometime in August or early September.  

Thinking about that, I think about last September when this whole adventure started and I am AMAZED at all we have achieved in just one year!!!!! Can you believe it?  I know we aren’t quite there yet, but I continue to look forward with excitement and gratitude.  

Hello.

I write to you this week with a heavy heart and enormous grief over the recent shooting in Orlando.  I grieve for the LGBT community, especially friends here in Missoula who lost loved ones, and I also grieve for those in our city who have been singled out and targeted due to their faith and heritage, not the actions of decades spent in our community as outstanding human beings.  Both of these things hurt my soul and I have not yet come to a place of understanding.  This attack was atrocious, but it is also a reminder to me the pain and terror that refugees are fleeing every day and only makes our efforts more important.

I give thanks to the Jeanette Rankin Peace Center who is offering at least a small outlet in which to direct our sorrows.

Many of us are carrying grief over the senseless deaths in Orlando and the anti-Muslim rhetoric that we are hearing. In the face of such enormous grief it is hard to know what to do but reach out and love each other. The JRPC is inviting us to join the ladies of the Cranium (who meet every Wednesday to explore and practice origami) this Wednesday at 1:15 pm in the JRPC community room to fold a peace crane for Orlando.  The cranes will be sent in a care package to victims and their loved ones in Orlando as a sign of solidarity, as well as gifted to Muslims in our own community who are being targeted and scrutinized due to this horrible tragedy.  Betsy has informed me that if you can’t make this exact time, you are welcome throughout the day.

In addition to this gathering, please consider writing a letter to the editor in solidarity with the LGBT community and in support of the upstanding Muslims in our community. It is so easy to hear all of the negativity and ill-informed comments that are trying to pit the two groups against each other, and I am sure we will see the Missoulian opinion page inundated with this in the coming days.  Please be a voice of hope, peace and support for both of those communities that exist peacefully here in this city. Here is how…

Letters to the Editor

Letters should be 300 words or fewer, and MUST include your real name, real address, and phone number. While we welcome feedback from anyone, we only publish letters
from within our primary readership area.

Email: oped@missoulian.com

Phone: (406) 523-5215

Toll free: 1-800-366-7186

Fax: (406) 523-5294

p.s. – only your name is published, not your address and phone number.

In SLM news, we have had a super busy and productive last couple of weeks. So busy I am pretty sure I am a week (or three!) behind on getting this newsletter out! Our first Ally Training is in full swing and I am once again so impressed with NCBI and so blessed to be partnering with them for these classes!  We hope to have another training in the fall, and possibly continue our efforts annually, so look for that if you couldn’t participate this go round.

We have traveled across the state, from Great Falls, to Kalispell, to Stevensville and Hamilton, and of course here at home in Missoula, to give talks and seminars on refugees, SLM, and community organizing and activism. This is all a part of our continued outreach effort to prepare our state and community to be a welcoming and inclusive place for refugees to land. We have met so many amazing people wanting to help and I continue to be humbled by other’s stories and commitment.

A recent surge in interest and volunteers has also helped us begin to structure and run some small donation drives for household items, with plans for larger ones once we have a true space to store the items!  Any leads on donated/cheap space anyone?!?!? We hope to start by putting together the apartments for the first 3 families by the beginning of August, knowing that the less the IRC has to spend on “stuff”, the more they can stretch for additional rent, language assistance, and employment help.  We have been so blessed by Rebekah Little stepping up to the plate to help organize this, and any inquiries about donations can go to her at donate@softlandingmissoula.org.  Please consider storing that box of clothes and items you have laying around that you were going to take to Goodwill for the next month or so until we have a space, and let us know if you have any furniture in good to great condition that you are looking for a new home for….

Speaking of storage space, we are also still in the search for the right spot for SLM and our hopes for a resource/community center/lounge….. Just putting it out there 😉

Lastly, we are also in full swing of incorporating into our own non-profit and continue to be ever grateful to the JRPC for their support and guidance, as well as so many in the community with whom we have had some serious “brain picking sessions”! This has been not just a chore, but actually a really great opportunity to enlist help, form an advisory board, and most importantly, really assess our goals and express our true north.  The work is ongoing, and way more fulfilling than I originally anticipated! Molly Cottrell- you are so amazing- thanks for being my right hand wo-man!

The IRC is also visiting again this week to continue to finalize office location and set up with the anticipation of a true opening end of July/early August. Exciting!

So, yes, quite busy but incredibly blessed with so many amazing and gifted people working hard to make all of these things a reality.  Thank you all for your kindness and support to those who need it most in this very difficult time.

Hello!

 

I can’t believe we are already over halfway through May! I am loving this beautiful spring and especially loving seeing it through the eyes of my toddler as he discovers splashing in mud, throwing rocks in the creek and running full tilt across the soft grass to flop down on his belly with huge giggles. This time, and these new activities for us, make me even more excited and thankful for all we have accomplished lately and the certainty that soon we will be able to share these things with children (and adults) who haven’t had the freedom to just flop down in the grass and gaze at the clouds for a long while.

SLM has some really exciting things coming up in anticipation of welcoming refugees into our city soon! First, we are hosting an “Ally” training- Building An Inclusive Community- on June 11th from 9a-noon and June 15th from 6p-9p. It is a 2-part training series that will be facilitated by the National Coalition Building Institute (NCBI) Missoula. The series will be an opportunity for community members to come together to increase understanding about the impact of oppression, expand strategies for effective communication and rapport, gain skills for effective leadership, collaboration and advocacy in the community; and to set individual and organizational goals for ensuring a welcoming and inclusive environment for registered refugees coming to Montana via the International Rescue Committee. The cost is $40 and there is a limited number of spots available. We do have a few scholarships available if the cost is prohibitive for your participation. Please email me to sign up!  I think this will be an amazing and critical piece to advance the conversation in our community in order to create the most welcoming environment we can for refugees in Missoula.

We have also initiated a Donation Drive with hopes of fully furnishing 3 apartments for our first few families that will hopefully be arriving by late summer/early fall.  We have many folks in the community excited to create a lovely home for these families and are especially thankful to those who have stepped up to offer leadership and energy to this project!  If this is something that interests you, or you have an item or two you would like to donate, please email Molly (volunteer@softlandingmissoula.org). We are looking for donated storage space for the larger items (beds, couches, etc..) that we will be collecting, so please contact us if you have any thoughts or leads on storage space.  We are also preliminarily looking for office/community center space if anyone has a lead on this or suggestions for us 😉

Many of you know this already (thank you for the interest!) – We are working to put together an advisory board as we work towards receiving our own 501(c)3 non-profit status. If this interests you and you would like to be considered, please contact me and I can send you information on how to “apply”.  We are asking that a “Letter of Interest” along with 3 references be submitted by May 27th and we will start conducting interviews in early June for a decision by the end of June.

In other updates, the IRC has now posted the two positions for a full-time caseworker and part-time finance manager. They would love to fill these positions locally and I encourage you to apply!

So, lots of great things going on!  I hope you have a wonderful rest of your week and can find time to enjoy at least a few moments with loved ones outside in this beautiful spring season!

Hello!

What a couple of great weeks we just had! Visits from Bob Johnson and Robin Dunn-Marcos with the IRC, a wonderful “Thank you!” gathering and an incredible week of education, humor and show of support for our Muslim neighbors organized by SALAM.  I hope you all got a chance to meet some of these wonderful people and attend some of these events.  If not- there will be more to come!  Thank you so much to Anna, Suzy, Kelsey, Georgia, Winnie, Darrin and many others for your fabulous work in making our dessert party happen!

A couple things to keep on your radar for this week…

Soft Landing Missoula will be participating in Give Local which takes place tomorrow, May 3rd! This is a great and simple way to show your support! There are many ways you can donate all over town at all times of the day- and night! Check out the Give Local for donation locations and events…

The Jeannette Rankin Peace Center is hosting a First Friday Award ceremony from 5 to 7 pm to display the artwork submitted for their annual Search for Peace Art Show and meet the winners. Cash prizes will be distributed by Fr. Jim Hogan, the originator of the contest, at 5 pm. Artwork was submitted along the theme of “Welcoming” to allow participants to reflect on the upcoming opening of a refugee resettlement office in Missoula. Representatives from Soft Landing Missoula will be available to answer questions and the community will have the opportunity to write a note of welcome to refugees that will be sent to the new International Rescue Committee Office opening in Missoula. Come enjoy some snacks, have your questions answered, add to a community message of welcome and see the inspiring work of our young people.

I want to end this newsletter with an observation. One of the most incredible things about this whole endeavor is this cosmic “falling in lap” of everything needed. There have been hard days and struggles, but every single time these challenges have been answered by an email, a phone call, a meeting, a post, that has been the perfect path to move forward and renew our mission and goals. This has not been once or twice, but so many times, with each new person involved, with each new meeting.  Whatever force you believe in, the universe and beyond, we continue to make amazing connections that are being pulled together to make serving refugees and our community a reality.  We are so excited to continue to cultivate these relationships and plan for our future in helping people fleeing war and terror to thrive in our city! Thanks for joining us!!!

Hello!

Welcome to our first newsletter! There are some pretty exciting things happening and we wanted a better way to keep everyone up to date and engaged so we will now be sending out a biweekly newsletter. 

So- Hooray!  As you know, the International Rescue Committee (IRC) is moving forward with opening a resettlement office in Missoula and things are on track to welcome our first refugees by this summer!  Thank you so much to everyone who has been involved to date – how ever large or small. From writing letters, to being a compassionate ear for someone with concerns, your combined efforts forged this success.

Now the real work begins!  For the past month, Soft Landing Missoula has been focusing our efforts on laying a strong organizational foundation for moving forward as we start to transition into our new role supporting the IRC and other Missoula organizations, institutions, and community members to welcome refugees so that they won’t just be able to survive here, but to THRIVE.  I know many of you would like to participate even more and I am thankful for the patience you have had while we have labored on the initial groundwork.  Look forward to many more volunteer opportunities in the near future to help us make this happen! We will be beginning to take on the structure of a true 501(c)3 non-profit (we are currently recruiting board members if this is something that excites you!) and are so thankful for the Jeanette Rankin Peace Center for their guidance through this process and for being our incubator!

Please join us for our event this Thursday, April 21st to celebrate our progress and look toward our future.  The IRC will give a brief update of news on their end and I will speak to SLM progress and projects.  We will also have a few guest speakers and some wonderful poetry. Oh!  Did I forget to mention desserts and coffee!? The event will be from 6-8 at St Paul Lutheran Church, with the speaking engagements starting around 6:30 and plenty of time to get involved in wonderful conversation and put faces with names! 

The following week, April 25-30th, Standing Alongside America’s Muslims has put together some amazing events for “Celebrate Islam Week” and we hope you will join them for some of those as well!  See attached flyer.

I want to again take a moment to reflect on how thankful I am for all of you.  I shouldn’t be surprised, but your work and support has been jaw dropping and this would not be happening without you.  I am so honored and proud that you are on this journey with us.