Have you ever been in a place where you were forced to be truly dependent? A place where you had no autonomy or choice over where you slept, what you ate, what job you worked? A place where, simultaneously, people drove on the other side of the road, said hello in a different language, and
Read below from Jenn Burkholz, our Youth Empowerment Specialist, about how your support is changing young lives in our city! Recently, I hung a large, colorful paper “quilt” on the wall in my office. Elementary, middle and high school students in the Homework Helpers and Youth Impact Group created squares, which were then creatively arranged
Remember when we got a driving simulator and were able to more proactively start teaching people how to drive? 6 folks have now gotten their driver’s licenses and are more on their way towards independence. Remember when we opened up City Boutique and how that provided space for refugee women to gather, create, and sell?
As most of you know, our Global Artisan program aunched less than a year ago. Since then, it has grown exponentially. Check out what Stefanie Nichols, our Artisan Empowerment Specialist, has to say about this endeavor and the global impact it makes. One of our Global Artisans looked at me with her eyes shining in
Our Care Coordinators have the privilege and primary responsibility of handling some of the most urgent and complex matters within the refugee communities we serve. At City of Refuge, we don’t generally use words like “case manager” or “client” to describe our staff or those participating in our programs or services. “Friend” has always been
Abby Hake, our Executive Assistant, joined the team in January of this year. Her first introduction to City of Refuge was at our annual Back to School Bash. Check out what she has to say about the experience. With Back to School Bash quickly approaching I can’t help but feel sentimental about the event, where
There’s often a lot of confusion about who we serve. Lots of assumptions. Lots of misinformation. It seems timely to ensure that our broader community has a more thorough understanding of who we are generally working with day in and day out. Below is a graphic that helps explain the journey of a “typical” refugee
On Saturday, June 22 I was twirling cotton candy cones and covered with a layer of sugar and sweat. It was as perfect of a hot summer day as you can get, hundreds and hundreds of folks from all over mid-Missouri coming by to see just what this Summer Market was all about. One of
We just wrapped up our first spring at City Preschool! Read below about how our first semester went from director Candace Hulsizer. When you think about what goes on in a preschool, what comes to mind? Kids sitting at colorful tables, their fingers dipped in paint? Squeals of excitement and wide-eyed curiosity? Children sitting on
We tried something new last December – maybe you remember it. We hosted our first ever Holiday Market, featuring a variety of refugee and local artisan vendors. Our parking lot was lined with makers’ tents, the air was brisk, and there were thousands of individuals filled with holiday cheer. The live music, the coffee, the
