As a sponsor, St Barnabas Lutheran Church welcomed two Venezuelans, Ruth and her four year old son, to Minnesota in September. Ruth fled Venezuela due to the rampant violence and shortages of food, medicine and essential services. She qualified for and was vetted by Welcome Corps, which is a program run by the US State Department that allows Americans to help refugees to find freedom and security. Through sponsorship, we hope to provide Ruth and her son with a bridge to safety and a new life in Minnesota. Ruth has the right to be in the US legally and the right to work.

Welcome Corps will provide $4850 in funds for us to use to help resettle Ruth and her son. We expect that we will need an additional $15,000 in funds for necessary items such as clothing, housing and transportation. We appreciate your consideration of donating to our efforts to help Ruth and her son. All funds donated through GoFundMe will be received by St Barnabas and will therefore be tax deductible to the donor.