About – City of Refuge

City of Refuge is a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization created to help and serve refugees and immigrants in Mid-Missouri. Our vision is to help refugees and immigrants become productive, successful, contributing members of our community.

Mid-Missouri has more than 8,000 refugees and immigrants. Each year an average of 200 new refugees come to Columbia, MO. Many of them do not speak English and arrive with only a few pieces of clothing and little money.

We at City of Refuge want to help refugees and immigrants as they navigate their new life here in Columbia.

Who We Are

Barry Stoll is our Director of Refuge Services and Lori Stoll is our Refugee Care Coordinator. They officially have 9 children but unofficially have hundreds more. They spend most of their waking moments with refugee families in our community helping them find housing, jobs and anything else they need. You can reach Barry at 573-289-1869 or at barry@cityofrefugecolumbia.org and Lori at 573-999-1686 or at lori@cityofrefugecolumbia.org.

Kim Westfall manages events, communication with donors and any other tasks thrown her way. She also shows and breeds Havanese dogs in her spare time. Kim has been helping refugees since 2008. kim@cityofrefugecolumbia.org

Pati Pelaccio is the manager of the Buttonwood Business Center by day and our financial manager by night. She oversees payroll, taxes, insurance and manages our Quickbooks and bank accounts. We are so thankful for her skills.

Board of Directors

1. Jen Wheeler, Board President

2. Keith Anderson, Vice President and owner of Columbia Flooring & More

3. Matt Ford of Weichert Realty, Handy Matt LLC and Property Protectors LLC

4. Landon Cummins, QuesTec

5. Nathan Jones, Nathan Jones Law

6. Marla Welker, Bank of Missouri

7. Chris Sanders, Providence Bank

8. Miha Britt, Britt Immigration Law

9. Elias Abadi, CoMo Premium Exteriors

10. Angelique Hunter, Photography by Angelique

11. Max Prokell, Venta Marketing

Honorary Board Members

Esther King helped start Safi Sana and was one of its first employees. She is studying law at Northwestern but still takes the time to help us.

And these are just a few of us. We are friends who love the refugees and immigrants in town and want to help them become thriving members of our city. If you are interested in becoming a Board Member or would like more information on getting involved, fill out our Contact Us form here

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