Blog

A Promise Broken

February 4, 2025

Mursal and Ahmad were evacuated from Kabul in August 2021 as the Taliban retook control of Afghanistan. After two months in Qatar, three months on a military base in New Jersey, and another three months in a hotel in Silver Springs, MD, they were finally resettled in North Carolina, in May 2022. The couple fled their home country because they...

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Art for Wellness

February 3, 2025

Written by CWS Durham Art Therapist Lindy Chicola Over the last year, our Refugee Wellness program benefited from opportunities that let the Art Group (AG) members, comprised of participating clients, venture their work into the public eye. Beginning last summer at Durham Refugee Day, the participants gained experience in their first market, earned some money, and had positive interactions around...

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Welcome Doesn’t End Here

January 24, 2025

A letter from Associate Director for Development Mary Ellen Poe Dear Friend, I know you care about refugees and immigrants. So, I wanted to share the impact of a number of new executive orders from the Trump Administration that reverse decades of precedent for welcoming those fleeing violence and persecution. These executive orders have indefinitely suspended the United States Refugee...

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Get Out the Vote

October 24, 2024

As we draw near to the end of early voting season, we’ve been knocking on doors to get out the vote with naturalized immigrant and refugee voters. CWS is sharing information about how America can honor its proud tradition of welcome and elevating the voices of our new fellow citizens who may be voting for the first time in their...

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Reigniting Hope

April 24, 2024

In a conversation with Madison Burke, Migrant Services Coordinator at CWS, Paula* shares her gratitude for the sustainers of the Immigrant Solidarity Fund (ISF) for the support that they’ve offered she and her family during a moment of crisis. Paula arrived in the community in 2005, when her family brought her as an adolescent from Michoacán, Mexico. Her parents remain...

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