Every Campus a Refuge
Donation protected
Every Campus A Refuge (ECAR) at Wake Forest University is facing an urgent need for support for a local family who is looking for a permanent home in the middle of a housing and employment shortage. A moratorium on evictions does not help, both because it is about to expire and because families still owe money on past-due-rent and other fees.
The most urgent need right now is on housing costs, both toward rent and down-payments to qualify for a long-term home, avoiding expensive/late fees from short-term options. Thanks to the generosity and kindness of a local family and Wake Forest University, we are able to offer free short-term housing, but we need your help for long-term solutions.
We, ECAR@WFU, are a team of faculty, staff, and students who welcome and partner with refugee families in Winston Salem. We have directly supported 7 families over the past three years, connecting them to language services, medical providers, and staying by their side as they navigate everything from employment to higher education. Our volunteers put in many, many hours of time into this program, but we cannot do it alone.
Through the Every Campus a Refuge program at Wake, we have created a new vision of what an American college campus and American community can look like. Our goal is to take the refugee narrative beyond the image of flight to the reality of resettlement in small-town America. We hope to show that families come as friends, neighbors, educators, professionals, authors who give to our local community as they share their stories and expertise.
Recent examples of ECAR initiatives include:
- At-home English language and homework tutoring for children to succeed in their classes and set them on a path of academic success.
- Arabic-English translation for families navigating the disability services system for members of their family suffering from severe medical conditions.
- Tutoring for college preparation for a person who is working full time as an essential worker in the medical field.
- Professional support for a young family whose father is working on bar certification to practice as a lawyer in the U.S.
Every once in a while, we are faced with so many emergency expenses that we turn to the Winston Salem community for help. In order to keep up our work, we rely on small donations from individuals who care about welcoming refugees. The reality is that rebuilding a life in the United States is expensive, especially when so many families arrive without the social or financial foundation that most people rely during these difficult times. We use social service programs, and church/nonprofit clothes closets or food pantries when we can, but sometimes there are needs that cannot be met these ways, and we have to turn to external fundraising.
Even though we can't be together this holiday season, please consider giving to support local families. Your donation will make our Winston Salem community one we continue to build together. Thank you!!
The most urgent need right now is on housing costs, both toward rent and down-payments to qualify for a long-term home, avoiding expensive/late fees from short-term options. Thanks to the generosity and kindness of a local family and Wake Forest University, we are able to offer free short-term housing, but we need your help for long-term solutions.
We, ECAR@WFU, are a team of faculty, staff, and students who welcome and partner with refugee families in Winston Salem. We have directly supported 7 families over the past three years, connecting them to language services, medical providers, and staying by their side as they navigate everything from employment to higher education. Our volunteers put in many, many hours of time into this program, but we cannot do it alone.
Through the Every Campus a Refuge program at Wake, we have created a new vision of what an American college campus and American community can look like. Our goal is to take the refugee narrative beyond the image of flight to the reality of resettlement in small-town America. We hope to show that families come as friends, neighbors, educators, professionals, authors who give to our local community as they share their stories and expertise.
Recent examples of ECAR initiatives include:
- At-home English language and homework tutoring for children to succeed in their classes and set them on a path of academic success.
- Arabic-English translation for families navigating the disability services system for members of their family suffering from severe medical conditions.
- Tutoring for college preparation for a person who is working full time as an essential worker in the medical field.
- Professional support for a young family whose father is working on bar certification to practice as a lawyer in the U.S.
Every once in a while, we are faced with so many emergency expenses that we turn to the Winston Salem community for help. In order to keep up our work, we rely on small donations from individuals who care about welcoming refugees. The reality is that rebuilding a life in the United States is expensive, especially when so many families arrive without the social or financial foundation that most people rely during these difficult times. We use social service programs, and church/nonprofit clothes closets or food pantries when we can, but sometimes there are needs that cannot be met these ways, and we have to turn to external fundraising.
Even though we can't be together this holiday season, please consider giving to support local families. Your donation will make our Winston Salem community one we continue to build together. Thank you!!
Organizer
Sara Pesek
Organizer
Winston-Salem, NC