by Nancy Baden
What do Henry Kissinger, Madeleine Albright, Albert Einstein, Bela Bartok, Freddy Mercury, Muhammad, Gloria Estefan and Jesus have in common? If you answered ‘refugees’, you are pretty smart. These refugees needed help long ago and refugees need help still. Global Refuge, formerly known as Lutheran Immigration and Refugee Services, is uniquely positioned to resettle refugees since they have been doing so since 1939. Almost as long as First English has been a church. Nancy and Randy Baden became acquainted with Krish O’Mara Vignarajah last summer at Holden Village, where she spent a week lecturing on immigration and the need for humanitarian policies in our country. She is an articulate and outspoken advocate and is the President and CEO of Global Refuge, the largest faith-based national non-profit in the US dedicated exclusively to serving immigrants and refugees. They have recently opened a Welcome Center in San Antonio, one of six such centers across the country. These centers provide a single place to receive emergency care, legal assistance, mental health screenings and information about community resources available locally and in destination communities. There are many ways to support Global Refuge. We encourage you to check out their website www.globalrefuge.org and to listen to some of Krish’s interviews. Global Refuge is one of FELC’s 2024 benevolence partners. You’re invited to commit today to the care and advocacy of refugees.
Five things to know about Global Refuge:
- We are local! We have a field office in San Antonio that serves across the region, including in Austin and even to Corpus Christi. Learn more about our San Antonio Welcome Center here.
- We must fight fiction with fact. See our disinformation toolkit and join us in our advocacy around this issue.
- We need you. Refugee Resettlement is under threat of being completely ended in a new Presidential Administration. Our private dollars only make up 6% of our budget, and we are at risk of losing funding for this critical work.
- You can volunteer and engage with us through programs at your congregation. Learn more here.
- We have opened an office in Guatemala and Mexico to address the root cause of migration. By providing holistic support to those we serve, we can keep families together while also ensuring safety for youth and young adults. Here is a powerful video showcasing our work in Guatemala.