2025: Our 7th Year of Support for Refugees
We completed another full year of service to our immigrant community!  All told, we provided more than 100 acts of service that supported more than 120 individuals.  None of this would have been possible without the support of our dedicated group of 50 local volunteers. 

New Program for 2025:
We responded to the need for English as a Second/Other Language courses, and together with El Shaddai church, we provided classes for 7 1/2 months, after which we were able to transition our students to ESOL classes at Mott CC. 

We also continued with our regular support activities, including furniture delivery, financial support, interpretation, transportation, housewares, hospitality, and mentorship.  Towards the end of the year, we also helped 3 families as they moved into their new rental homes.

Unfortunate pivot:
This year also included the new challenge of assisting families who have had a member(s) detained by ICE.  With the help of generous donors and partner congregations, we have assisted families with some bill pay, meals, and gift cards to help ease their burdens.

In December, we were happy to see one of the families reunited!  Now we are hoping and praying that soon we will be able to celebrate the reunification of the others. Until then, we will continue to support them as much as we can. 

Hospitality:
The Deacons from our church really outdid themselves this year! They supplied each family with backpacks and school supplies, Easter baskets full of goodies, and Christmas cookies with grocery gift cards. Additionally, they partnered with Holly High School students for a second year to bring gifts to all of the children at Christmas! I can’t thank them enough for their dedication to our families.

We also had volunteers who carved out opportunities for the families to enjoy community celebrations.  Refugee families attended concerts in the park (above), parades, and our annual Turkey Dinner (above).  All of these overtures help to accomplish our main goal of being a welcoming committee for our new community members! 

Going forward:
Our 8th year of Refugee support and welcome feels more uncertain than ever before.  There remains a high need for English classes, financial support for families of detainees, mentoring, translation, and transportation, and there is the very real threat of more detentions at any time.  Luckily, we have amazing and generous volunteers and will continue to work, network, and welcome!

Current Needs:

·         Language partners for a few of our advanced English students. Ideally, these volunteers would meet weekly to practice language skills one-on-one with an English language learner.

·         Volunteers to serve as mentors/community ambassadors for families/individuals.  This would mean checking in with and periodically assessing the needs of a specific family or individual. 

·         Someone to help one individual apartment hunt in Flint.

Please contact Sarah directly if you would like to help! And thank you all for another year of making our community a more welcoming place!