While the debate over immigration continues to rage in the wake of the presidential election, many Americans remain committed to welcoming refugees.
One program that allows people to get involved directly helping refugees settle into their new communities and prepare for a new life is
Welcome Corps. Run by the U.S. Department of State, Welcome Corps connects people who are fleeing violence or war in their home countries with everyday Americans who want to help them set down roots in their new home.
Zaman International in Inkster is the main agency working with Welcome Corps in Michigan. The organization works with women who are newly arrived in America from countries all over the globe, but typically they come from the Middle East or Northern Africa. Because of that, says Joan Walton, Zaman's director of community and volunteer engagement, Zaman was asked to help by the state agency tasked with refugee resettlement.
Since Zaman took on the work in October of 2023, 19 cases handled by the organization have arrived in Michigan, comprised of 58 individuals coming from Yemen, Syria, Burma, Eritrea, Sudan and Venezuela.
Despite the change in administration and the expected crackdown on immigration, programs like Welcome Corps prove that Michiganders are committed to helping those who want to come here to start a better life for themselves and their families.
As part of Walton’s work with Welcome Corps, she encourages community groups to sponsor a person with refugee status who wants to come to America, typically to reunite with family members who are already here. Families in America often have been separated from their loved ones for years, perhaps even more than a decade, and Welcome Corps eases the process and provides families with a softer place to land after significant trauma and stress.
“You find that these families are really grasping at straws because they are desperate to get their families out of danger,” Walton says. “Getting them here is the American dream, but these families are used to waiting and these processes take a long time.”
Sponsor groups must be made up of at least five people, and they are required to raise $2,425 per refugee, although grants are available for 60 percent of that cost if they are sponsoring someone they don’t know.
Sponsors commit to working with refugees for 90 days after arrival. This allows the sponsors time to find permanent housing for the refugees if necessary, enroll children in school or daycare, connect them to services that can offer help beyond the scope of Welcome Corps, and orient them to their new community.
This means familiarizing them with things like local laws, their rights and responsibilities, and figuring out transportation. Sponsors connect people with cultural resources like churches, shops where they can find foods from home, and fellow immigrants from their country.
Sponsors also guide them through unfamiliar cultural practices. Imagine how the Fourth of July must feel for a survivor of war who is not expecting the barrage of neighborhood fireworks that erupt over the holiday. Or how strange commercialized religious observances like Christmas or Easter can seem if you are not from a country that celebrates them.
Sponsoring a stranger requires a certain spirit of generosity and welcome, and it sometimes takes significant reflection before a group is ready to make that commitment. “Sometimes churches just write checks, and I believe there’s a lot more to (our) mission than that,” Walton says. “People need to do acts of kindness and help out.”
That was the case for people at
Cherry Hill Presbyterian Church in Dearborn, who were looking for a more hands-on way to serve and thus connected with Zaman. Walton met with church members a few times and spoke at the church’s coffee hour. These discussions occurred before the church community made the decision to sponsor a family, said Deb Szwed, mission chair for the church.
The church is sponsoring a family from Afghanistan, who had to flee the country when the Taliban came back into power when support from the United States withdrew in 2021.
It’s been a slow process, but the Cherry Hill group has been in contact with the family and the State Department, and they are using this time to prepare. Welcoming the stranger is a central tenet of Christianity, and committing to this project bears that out.
“We just got a note saying to have faith. It may be a couple of months, and it could be years,” Szwed said.
Resettling refugees can be a slow process and requires willingness to take on work, but it’s very rewarding, Walton says.
“The happiest moments are when families are reunited -- those airport moments when the whole family is there with signs and they see that person come through baggage claim,” Walton says. “I’ve never been so happy to pay $40 an hour for parking.”
This story is part of the Nonprofit Journal Project, an initiative focused on nonprofit leaders and programs across Metro Detroit. This series is made possible with the generous support of our partners, the Ralph C. Wilson Jr. Foundation, Michigan Nonprofit Association and Co.act Detroit.