February 7, 2025
We have some updates for you.
With the new executive order “Realigning the United States Refugee Admissions Program“, certain funding streams were cut off to resettlement agencies nationwide during the 90 day review. This means that many new arrivals (some just here a few days), no longer have access to the federal funds that were guaranteed to help with initial housing, food, transportation, etc. They have also lost federal funding for case management, those who were directly assisting in ensuring their clients have access to various resources in the community. Many resettlement agencies are working really hard to find other means to financially cover these direct, most urgent needs, but not all have been able to.
We’ve put out relatively little information about how City of Refuge is responding to the ever changing political climate surrounding immigration. That’s, in part, because we have very little information. It’s also because it hadn’t changed what we were striving to do on our day-to-day.
Now, it has.
I do want to make sure that folks are aware of what is happening in the refugee resettlement world. Every day, I hear of more staff who have been furloughed and laid off across the country. People who have committed their lives to a career of coming alongside refugees in their first moments in America – ensuring that they are set up to move toward self-sufficiency. Things like job placement, housing, basic household items/furniture, initial dollars to meet the most urgent and immediate needs. That support is now gone. It truly is heartbreaking.
Imagine waiting years (and years and years and years) to finally land in a place that was supposed to be filled with the hope of starting over. And then, imagine that what was promised – what was guaranteed – is now no longer. The person you were looking to (a case manager) to help you navigate a new language, culture, currency, system – they can no longer help you in the same ways. An immediate ceasing of assistance to thousands and thousands of refugees who have waited patiently to come when our government determined it was okay to do so. Tons of paperwork, tons of vetting – trusting an unfamiliar process because others who have gone before you have shown you just how life-changing it can be.
I try not to be an alarmist.
When something feels chaotic or confusing, I search for a logical, rational explanation or solution. Perhaps there’s just been a miscommunication or misunderstanding. I generally tend to think that when we put our heads together, when we unite, a lot can be accomplished. We’re stronger together, right?
But this is alarming.
It’s worth making you aware.
Right now, City of Refuge is able to stand in the gap. Because we are not funded through this specific federal source, we are able to still operate and extend open hands, hearts, and resources to refugees who have arrived in mid-Missouri over the last few months. It’s a small fraction of the number of individuals scattered across the country, but it still affords us the opportunity to do something. Right here, right now… with real people who are scrambling to know which way is up.
It seems like every day we are given new updates on which funding sources are being impacted/frozen. In the last week, depending on the day, the amount of potential deficit to our projected 2025 budget has ranged from $60,000 to $500,000.
I write all of this to alert you: today, things are not dire. Tomorrow, they may be. We honestly have no way to know … and so we will do everything we can today to provide the services that are so needed.
We do know that we will need to take on more direct client assistance and case management with newer arrivals than we historically have. This means that instead of shrinking our budget, we must actively grow it. As federal support around the country wanes, we know more and more individuals and families will find themselves here… because they still need the services, programs, and resources we can either directly provide or help them access.
This is our chance to do something tangible to help.
I’m so grateful that City of Refuge exists and that we have the means to stand in the gap. But we’re going to need you to help us continue to do that.
Here’s how you can help – right now, right here, today:
1. Give Financially – one-time, monthly… literally anything will help.
2. Volunteer:
- We will be forming “Buddy Groups” to help with some of our highest need cases. This will involve 4-6 community members who are committing to a year of coming alongside a newly arrived family – to befriend and help them access the services they need.
- Transportation Team – We will need on-call individuals who are able to help transport people to and from various appointments (medical, school, etc.).
3. Share – Many people don’t know this is happening/has happened. Use your voice, your network, your platform to advocate on behalf of our refugee friends. Let them know that they can get involved on a local level and help people in very necessary ways.
I still believe that when we put our minds, hearts, actions, dollars together… that we can make the impossible possible. I still believe that we’re stronger together. That when we can cross over the lines that divide us – seeing and valuing the dignity of another and letting that drive us toward action – we are all better for it.
We’re pushing forward to Love our Neighbors.
We will do this, relentlessly.
We hope you will join us for this unpredictable ride of love, sacrifice, and the empowerment of another. There may be no call more worthy than this.
Executive Director
Debbie Beal
