Category: Support SLM

The Lifelong Learning Center is offering a training for individuals who would like to learn the best way to teach English. This training will be perfect for anyone who wants to volunteer with refugees, either in the classroom or one-on-one!

The training takes place at the LLC on Tuesdays and Thursdays from 6 – 9 pm, starting September 12 and ending September 21. The cost is $79. Limited scholarships will be available for individuals who are willing to commit to volunteering with our refugees!

We hope you will consider taking advantage of this training. As we all know, learning English is key to successful integration into our community – we would love for you to be part of that!

Visit missoulaclasses.com or call 549-8765 for more details. Additional information is listed below.

From New York City to Missoula, refugees have brought the joys of cultural foods to their new cities. In NYC, a group of entrepreneurs started a company called Eat OffBeat, a service delivering homestyle meals prepared by female refugees.

This article from Civil Eats says “programs like Eat OffBeat aim to help these women land on their feet.” Soft Landing Missoula aims to help our families share more of their cultural foods in Missoula, as well! Read more about Eat OffBeat and similar programs.

Lorraine Gardner, a senior at Hellgate High School, is one of our amazing childcare providers. Soft Landing provides free childcare during all of our English and Driver’s Education classes. Lorraine has been helping out on during English classes every Thursday and is a rockstar! 

Special thank you to Lorraine and all of our other childcare volunteers! If you’re interested in helping with childcare, please email volunteer@softlandingmissoula.org.

Soft Landing Missoula has received many questions about the travel ban and the impact it will have on our families. If you have questions about these recent news topics, the International Rescue Committee has provided information to guide you. Read more here.

As our new refugee families continue to settle into their homes in Missoula, they still have a need for both personal and home care supplies. Today is the first day of our two-week drive! To donate new, unused items for our families, simply bring them to Soft Landing Missoula’s office at 939 Stephens Ave, Suite C. 

Items listed below are needed most, but any unused care items would be welcome. Items are appreciated before August 1. Thank you!

Personal care items:

• Full bars of soap
• Shampoo
• Conditioner
• Lotion
• Toothbrush/toothpaste
• Deoderant
• Diapers
• Wipes

Full-size items are appreciated!

Home care items:

• Laundry Detergent
• Hand Soap
• Cleaning Spray
• Sponges
• Dish Soap
• Toilet Paper
• Kleenex

We are thrilled that our Farmer’s Market booth continues to be such a success. Every week, some of the refugees prepare dishes that are native to their home countries. They feature recipes like home-roasted green coffee beans, delectable baklava, and savory injera – recipes that have traveled with them from their native homes all the way to Missoula. Our families are eager to share these products with our community!

The Farmer’s Market booth was conceived as an opportunity for our families to practice entrepreneurial and business skills. They commit time to prepare the foods and keep all of the profits from their sales. 

Stop by and see us every Saturday morning at the market near the XXXX’s!

Airbnb, the world’s leading hospitality company, has graciously partnered with resettlement agencies like the International Rescue Committee (IRC) to provide housing for 100,000 displaced people over the next five years.

As IRC President and CEO David Miliband stated, “By connecting hosts willing to open their homes with families in need, Airbnb will help us cut the time and expense of moving refugees from harm to home…Refugees are fleeing war, persecution or political upheaval. They are resettling because they have been forced out of their homes. Most refugees arrive with nothing and must start over—they need work, money, education and, straight away, they need housing. By connecting hosts willing to open their homes with families in need, Airbnb will help us cut the time and expense of moving refugees from harm to home. Perhaps just as important, this sort of home sharing allows people to make real connections and to build lasting relationships.”

Soft Landing Missoula is thrilled that our community will have another way to help welcome new families into Missoula, thanks to our partners at the IRC and Airbnb. A special thanks to Tom Winter—the first Missoula Airbnb host participant in this program! We are so, so grateful! 

Read the full article and get information about how to open your Airbnb up to displaced families. 

We are so thankful for John Gage and Anna Tucker (and their trucks) for all their help recently with collecting furniture and home set ups.  It’s not the glamorous work, but so important in supporting our incoming families. Thank you for your flexibility, strength and humor.

If you want to be like John and Anna and join our brand new Home Set Up Team, please email volunteer@softlandingmissoula.org.