What Welcome
Looks Like

Dear Community Members,

This Saturday, June 20, is World Refugee Day, a day to recognize the strength, resilience, and contributions of refugees around the world.

This year, World Refugee Day arrives at a difficult moment. With the U.S. Refugee Admissions Program significantly restricted, many families remain separated, and many community members are still waiting for the opportunity to welcome newcomers into their communities.

At times like this, it can be easy to focus on what is uncertain. But World Refugee Day is also an opportunity to reflect on what sponsorship has already made possible.

Over the past few years, sponsors across the country have welcomed refugees into their communities, helping families navigate their first days in the United States, celebrating milestones together, sharing meals, and building friendships that continue long after the formal sponsorship period ends.

The impact of sponsorship extends far beyond the newcomers who are welcomed. Sponsors often tell us that the experience changed them too. It expanded their understanding of the world, introduced them to lifelong friendships, and strengthened their sense of community and belonging.

That kind of change is no accident. Refugees bring so much to the communities that welcome them. They share knowledge, traditions, and perspectives that broaden how we see the world. They teach us about places and cultures many of us would never encounter otherwise, and they remind us how much courage it can take to begin again. They open businesses, strengthen our workforce, and enrich our schools, and they become the neighbors, coworkers, and friends who make a place feel more like home.

Welcoming refugees has never been only something we do for them. It makes all of us better.

As we recognize World Refugee Day, we asked sponsors to reflect on how refugees have impacted their lives. Here is what they shared.

These stories are a reminder that sponsorship is ultimately about people. It is about creating connections, building community, and making room for one another.

Even while refugee admissions remain significantly below historic norms, those relationships continue to grow. The impact of sponsorship continues to ripple through neighborhoods, schools, workplaces, and communities across the country.

This World Refugee Day, we are honoring the refugee students who have carried their ambitions across the world to keep learning. Through CSH's Higher Education Initiatives, colleges and universities have opened their doors to welcome refugee students, providing refugee youth with the opportunity to build their futures in the United States while strengthening their own communities.

Indiana University is one of the campuses leading the way. Rendy Schrader, Senior Director of International Student and Scholar Programs and Initiatives at IU, puts it plainly: these students "desperately need our help and we are equipped to provide it. These students are going to benefit everybody they touch." Hear directly from the IU team about what that welcome looks like in practice.

There are many ways to continue supporting refugees and newcomers in your community:

Every action helps strengthen a culture of welcome.