Posts Tagged ‘Chicagoland’
Advent Prayer Guide: Taking Heart
We dwell in a world still racked with extreme poverty, violence, mass displacement, and suffering. Covid-19 continues to expose these realities of injustice in new and overwhelming ways, and it feels debilitating. Advent is a moment to enter in, hold these realities, bring the grief we carry, sit in the brokenness, and long together for restoration.
For those of us who follow the Christian faith, Advent reminds us of the hope we have. In the aching, longing, and waiting we are reminded that,
The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it.
John 1:5
That’s why this Advent season, we want to invite those of you who share our faith to pray with us. Let us pray for the heaviness we carry and the brokenness we see in our own lives and in the world around us.
Through this guide, you will join others in the World Relief community in daily prayer for our refugee and immigrant neighbors. Let this Advent season be filled with renewal, rest, and restoration as we offer up our prayers.
Advent Week One: November 28
Read: Isaiah 9:2-7
Reflect & Pray: Christmas time is full of lights. There are houses with lights on their roof or your Christmas tree that is filled with little light bulbs and sparkle. Could these lights be a reminder this Christmas season of the light that broke into the darkness? God sent the One who is light to come into the darkness so that we could live in a relationship with him. The light has come!
Advent Week Two: December 5
Read: Ephesian 2:14-18
Reflect & Pray: In the midst of chaos, Jesus entered into our midst. He would live the life we could not live, fulfilling God’s requirement. When he entered, he brought with him perfect peace. Peace that heals, peace that reconciles, peace that invites, peace that challenges, and peace that brings hope.
Advent Week Three: December 12
Read: John 13:34-35
Reflect & Pray: The distinguishing mark of Christ’s followers is love. We love because God first loved us (1 John 4:19). Our love compels us to serve sacrificially and welcome our neighbors whether they be natural-born or foreign-born.
Advent Week Four: December 19
Read: Luke 1:46-56
Reflect & Pray: Mary’s song is a hymn of praise. She expresses her confidence that God will be true to his promises to his people. We can have this same confidence that God will be faithful to what he is doing in us, in our communities, and in our world.
Continuing in Prayer: December 26
Read: Psalm 27:13-14
Reflect & Pray: We have celebrated the arrival of God’s Son coming into the world. This is how we know hope, peace, love, and joy. And now we remain in the Lord. We will see his goodness, we will wait, and we will take heart.
More ways to pray with World Relief:
4-Week Advent Devotional: An Invitation to Welcome
What is Advent?
Advent focuses on the season of expectation as those of us who are Christians anticipate the celebration of Jesus Christ’s birth at Christmas. Throughout Church history, Christians have observed Advent, first to celebrate the incarnation of Jesus, and then to look forward to someday when He will return.
Today, the four Sundays before Christmas are an opportunity for the Church to remember the birth of Christ, celebrate what His life and death meant for the world, and look forward to the day when He will come again.
We call this season Advent, when we reflect on the themes of hope, love, joy, and peace and acknowledge each as a good gift from God that can give us a unique way to think about our relationship to Him.
All four weeks of Advent lead up to the culmination on Christmas Day when Christians celebrate the gift of Jesus Christ’s arrival on earth!
Answering the Invitation
The Christmas season is special for Christians – because as we prepare our hearts to celebrate Jesus Christ’s arrival on earth and welcome His presence, we have an opportunity to welcome our new neighbors – arriving immigrants and refugees.
Jesus said, “I was a stranger, and you welcomed me.”
Matthew 25:35
We believe that this verse and the season of Advent provide an opportunity.
It is a call for us to welcome strangers, including immigrants and refugees, the same way we would want to welcome Jesus!
Download the Advent Devotional: Invitation to Welcome
That is why we created this Advent devotional guide for you. It’s an invitation to join with your friends. Your loved ones. A small group. Or your family. Together, this is a guide for celebrating Advent in light of our Christian calling. Will you join us and learn about our calling to create just communities of love and welcome?
More Advent Resources from World Relief Chicagoland:
Why World Relief Chicagoland Staff Are Thankful This Year
As we approach the end of the year and the start of the holiday season, many of us take time to reflect on the year behind us. We consider what we have to be thankful for. For some, the previous year was difficult, full of hard things and grief. That might make this holiday season feel painful or bittersweet. For others, this year has seen immense change or big life milestones.
Yes, practicing gratitude in the face of suffering and change is difficult. And yet, reflecting on what we have to be grateful for can help us be more hopeful as we seek joy and practice thankfulness.
At World Relief Chicagoland, we have seen God’s faithfulness in countless ways. Even amid big challenges and sad events, there is much to be grateful for. Because of that, we asked staff to share what they are thankful for this year. And the responses were inspiring! Join us in practicing gratitude today and read our staff’s testimonies below.
We believe that there are so many reasons to give thanks! Join us in counting your blessings. As a result, you might even see God’s grace and goodness in your life in new ways.
What are you thankful for this year?
I am grateful for trusting relationships with the people we serve and the chance to speak Swahili with some of them. I am also thankful to have friends among my coworkers and for the vibrant neighborhood and friends in Albany Park where our Chicago office is located, an office cube to make into a hospitable space, and the opportunity to worship each morning at our 8:30 prayer time.
– Katelyn Skye Bennett, Employment Counselor
I am grateful to work on a team that is passionate about serving refugees and other immigrants in learning English so that the students can fully integrate into the community and workplace.
– Mary Cerutti, Education Director, Suburbs
This year, I am grateful for the opportunity to be part of the World Relief family. I have felt welcomed and challenged to grow in my walk with God during morning prayer and words of encouragement from coworkers. I am so thankful to form part of a Christ-centered organization that supports and empowers the immigrant and refugee community through a holistic and sustainable approach while exemplifying the love of Christ.
– Brenda De Leon, Immigration Legal Services Paralegal
Welcoming our new neighbors…
Reflecting on 2021, I’m thankful that so many churches and volunteers are standing with us as we welcome arriving families and build community with immigrants and refugees who are already living in our neighborhoods and communities.
– Sara Aardema, Church and Volunteer Engagement Director, Chicago
One thing that I am grateful for is to work in an office when I can freely mention Jesus and prayer. I am also thankful that every day, I get to go to work and make a difference in someone’s life. Being the hands and feet of Jesus is priceless.
– Isoken Aiwerioba, Office Manager
I am grateful for the partnership with churches across Chicagoland, which are contributing to the reach of our God-given work in building and creating communities of love and welcome! Thank you, churches, for being the hands and feet of Jesus to strangers!
– Adrian Hendarta, Church Mobilization Coordinator
Making an impact, together…
Reflecting on 2021, I am grateful to work in a place where people make a difference and impact other people’s lives in the community and all around the world. World Relief has been an answered prayer in my life, and in many people’s lives. It is a blessing to be part of this work.
– Andrea Rodriguez, Immigration Legal Services Administrative Assistant
I am grateful for the foundation partners who believe in creating a brighter future and investing in their communities. That vision inspires me and reminds me that by working together, we really can create just and welcoming communities where everyone thrives.
– Carrie Woodward, Foundations Partnerships Manager
This year, I am so grateful for the incredible outpouring of love from our church partners. I am thankful for their strong interest in volunteering, generous giving, and inspiring their members to engage.
– Keith Draper, Church and Volunteer Engagement Director, DuPage & Aurora
What are YOU grateful for?
Thank you for reading what World Relief Chicagoland staff are grateful for! Now, spend some time thinking about the blessings in your life and work. What are those things that you are thankful for?
Finally, share your reflections with us! We want to hear from you! Please share what you are grateful for by tagging @WorldReliefChicagoland on Facebook or @WRChicagoland on Instagram or Twitter.
Thanksgiving: Inviting You to a Moment of Praise and Prayer
As we enter into the holiday season, what are you most thankful for? Maybe it is the birth of a new grandchild this year, more time spent with your family, tending a garden this past summer, spending time in nature, or even experiencing the struggles in life that led to growth.
As an organization motivated by Christian faith, World Relief Chicagoland considers our gratitude as a moment to see God at work in our midst and respond in prayer. How can you do the same? The Psalmist captures this gratitude as he celebrates God’s love and compassion. He responds in praise.
In Psalm 103, we read:
Praise the Lord, my soul; all my inmost being, praise his holy name. Praise the Lord, my soul, and forget not all his benefits – who forgives all your sins and heals all your diseases, who redeems your life from the pit and crowns you with love and compassion, who satisfies your desires with good things so that your youth is renewed like the eagle’s.
Psalm 103:1-5 NIV
Moments of Praise
A call to praise God is often the climax of praise in the Psalter. Here at World Relief, there are many ways we can praise God for his work as we enter into Thanksgiving. May we take a moment to recognize and praise God for his love and compassion.
- Between our three offices in Aurora, Chicago, and DuPage County, we have welcomed nearly 200 arrivals since September 1st.
- Our Chicago office began welcoming newly arriving refugee families for the first time since 2018.
- Well over 1100 people have inquired to volunteer in the past three months.
- Students attending the Careers Pathways class were hired in well-paying positions to support their families.
- More students have been able to take part in English classes because they are virtual.
Moments of Prayer
At the same time, there are many ways we are asking God to move in the months ahead. This Thanksgiving, will you join the World Relief community in prayer for lasting change?
- For all the new refugee arrivals for smooth adjustments to the United States and to be able to adapt to the weather this winter.
- For our refugee and Afghan evacuee’s who are arriving to the United States with high expectations and finding everything much more difficult than they expect it to be from housing to jobs.
- More volunteers to tutor students who are learning English.
- The right people to join the World Relief Chicagoland team as there are many open positions and that these new staff members would feel welcomed.
- Permanent housing options that are affordable for families to move into upon their arrival.
- For our Immigration Legal Services team who are hearing about many situations of people processing trauma and feeling very overwhelmed.
- For World Relief Chicagoland staff to find times of rest and renewal this holiday season.
Join us in Prayer
We’re reminded that while creating change isn’t easy, it’s possible when we move together. May we pray this prayer of thanksgiving as we gather with friends and family this holiday season.
God of all blessings, source of all life, giver of all grace: […]
We thank you for setting us in communities: for families who nurture our becoming, for friends who love us by choice, for companions at work, who share our burdens and daily tasks, for strangers who welcome us into their midst, for people from other lands, who call us to grow in understanding, for children, who lighten our moments with delight, for the unborn, who offer us hope for the future.
Vienna Cobb Anderson
We thank you for this day: for life and one more day to love, for opportunity and one more day to work for justice and peace, for neighbors and one more person to love and by whom be loved, for your grace and one more experience of your presence, for your promise: to be with us, to be our God, and to give salvation.
For these, and all blessings, we give you thanks, eternal, loving God, through Jesus Christ we pray. Amen.
We would love for you to share these moments of praise and prayer with your family and friends. When you share this post, tag World Relief Chicagoland on Facebook, Instagram, or Twitter.
Thank you for joining World Relief Chicagoland in praying for our refugee and immigrant neighbors as they rebuild a new life in our community.
How to “Drive” Change by Donating Your Car
I still have my first car. It’s a blue Honda with hundreds of thousands of mileage. That car has taken me from Georgia to California and back. It saw me through a spontaneous road trip from Tennessee to Connecticut when I was in college. It has traversed the red rock hills of Sedona, Arizona, and the city streets of Chicago, Illinois. This car has blasted me with air conditioning on the hottest summer days and kept me safe and dry when storms poured rain on my way to work. All in all, my faithful little car has been my transportation across 26 states. Without fail, it has gotten me where I needed to go.
That blue Honda is so reliable that I rarely thought twice about making plans, driving to work, or volunteering to carpool with coworkers.
And then it unexpectedly landed in the auto repair shop.
The repair took three weeks. That meant three weeks without a vehicle. And those three weeks showed me how much I relied on my car. So many of my plans were contingent on being able to drive any time. Having a reliable car meant always having transportation. The flexibility to make plans. Never wondering how I would get to work each day. I could drive to the doctor and get there on time. Family never wondered if I could pick them up at the airport.
Without my car, I was limited.
However, I also learned how many advantages I have. Advantages that many people don’t have. These advantages meant that losing my car for three weeks was an annoyance, not a disaster. Because of where I live, I can walk, ride the bus, or take the train nearly everywhere I want to go. I work from home often, so I didn’t have to worry about losing my income. And because I have friends with cars, I was even able to borrow a vehicle for the day when I needed it.
What if that hadn’t been the case?
What if no car meant three weeks of not making it to work? That could mean losing a job that I worked hard to get and need for income. All of a sudden, my ability to pay rent would be in jeopardy. Going to the doctor, shopping for groceries… all of these things would become much more difficult, time-consuming, and inconvenient. Transportation barriers regularly impact people’s health care access. They increase isolation. And lack of transportation is a major obstacle to employment for millions of Americans.
The Barrier of Transportation
At World Relief Chicagoland, we frequently talk about the barriers that immigrants and refugees face when they arrive in the United States. Those barriers come in all shapes and sizes – they can be anything that keeps families from accomplishing their goals.
Oftentimes, for those whose new homes are in the suburbs, near World Relief’s offices in Aurora and DuPage County, one of the biggest barriers is transportation.
Consider this:
- Suburban neighborhoods often don’t have access to buses and trains, or routes don’t cover every area.
- Carpooling is a good option, but only if everyone’s schedule matches up. This doesn’t work very well if you work an unusual shift or have commitments like picking your child up from daycare by a certain time.
- Uber and Lyft can work in a pinch, but the cost per ride is high and adds up quickly.
- Because of the current lack of affordable housing, people will take apartments wherever they can – but this might put them out of walking distance from their community and limit their access to carpools.
Two Stories
Right now, World Relief knows a family of six who live with a relative in Aurora. This relative has a car, so they are hoping to find affordable housing near her so that she can take the adults to work and help them run errands. This is their best option because there aren’t any carpool or public transport options nearby, although the father of the family already has his driver’s license. Getting a car would mean the family has more flexibility in housing and the ability to drive to work, pick up groceries, and make it to doctor’s appointments – all on their own, without relying on their relative.
Another family we know is a single mother and her son. This mom is on her own, but determined to work hard to support her son. The first step toward getting a job is access to childcare—and thankfully, World Relief staff connected her with an amazing and affordable place where her son will be safe and cared for throughout the day. However, the daycare is only open from 6 a.m. to 6 p.m. – and the only carpool in her area is on a schedule that won’t let her pick up her son on time. Having access to a car will open amazing opportunities for this mom to drive to her job, work to support her son, and pick him up at the end of the day.
For these families, access to a car unlocks an incredible future. Lack of access limits that potential.
The Unmatched Impact of Donating Your Car
World Relief Chicagoland can count the families who need a car right now. Receiving a car right now would change their lives completely. And each car would have a rippling impact far beyond one individual or family.
If we had six cars right now, we would be able to give them out within two to four weeks. That would provide transportation to as many as twenty-four people who have jobs at up to six different companies.
– World Relief Chicagoland Employment Team staff member
Think of it like this – each car not only serves a person’s entire family, but it begins a new carpool opportunity that provides regular transportation for up to five or six people in the community who work at the same company. One car makes it possible for families to access other community resources, participate in events, visit relatives in other towns, and run errands in a more efficient manner.
How do we connect these families to vehicles?
How did you get your first car? What about your first job?
My blue Honda made it possible for me to drive to internships in college, take my roommate to medical appointments after an injury, move across the country for a new job post-college, and get to work every day once there. It’s not fancy. But it has always gotten me where I needed to go. My family gave me this car as a young adult, and it was a vital part of launching me into my adult life and career as I was just starting out.
Immigrant and refugee families who are rebuilding their lives in the U.S. face all kinds of barriers. But transportation should not be one of them.
Waiting to buy a car will prevent them from accessing the job opportunities and community resources that will create financial stability in the first place. And yet it would be impossible for most families to pay thousands of dollars to buy a car now.
You can jump-start their process to thriving by donating your car to World Relief Chicagoland. When you do, you will remove the barrier of transportation for as many as five or six immigrant or refugee families. And by removing the barrier of transportation, you create career opportunities and a positive economic impact that touches everyone in the community.
Will you be swapping your car for a newer model this season? Do you need a bigger vehicle to accommodate your family’s needs? If so, consider donating your car to World Relief Chicagoland.
The gift of transportation is a tangible way to change lives.
Continue reading:
Downloadable Gift Card: Give in Honor of Someone You Love this Holiday Season
What kind of present do you get for the friend or family member who has it all? This year, we have an answer! With this downloadable gift card, give in honor of your loved one to World Relief Chicagoland. You will gain the knowledge that your gift is making a life-changing difference for an immigrant or refugee. And by giving in honor of your friend or family member, you will both know that, together, you are helping to change lives for the long-term.
How to Give in Honor of Your Loved One
1. Give Online
To give in honor of your friend or family member, first, choose your amount and donate online. Whatever the amount, you will know that your gift is making a lasting impact on an immigrant or refugee in a vulnerable situation this holiday season!
2. Download A Gift Card
We created a special gift card for you to download and send to your loved ones – or leave under the tree on Christmas morning! With this card, you can show them the impact they will be making through the gift you gave in their honor. Not only is this a meaningful way to show your loved ones that you are thinking of them, but they will be inspired by how together, we are helping immigrant and refugee families to thrive!
Download Your Gift Card Now
3. Print & Fold Your Gift Card
How to fold your card:
First, fold the paper in half.
Next, fold in half horizontally.
Finally, Write your personal message inside and give to your loved one!
*If you find that upon printing, the gift card is off-center, please check your print settings and adjust to “default” mode.
Thank you for giving to help immigrants and refugees rebuild their lives and seize a brighter future!
How the Affordable Housing Crisis Is Impacting Refugee Families
We all want to build communities where refugees and immigrants are welcome. But how can we do that if they don’t even have a place to call home? The lack of affordable housing has created a challenge – but it’s one we can work together to tackle.
The U.S. is in the middle of an affordable housing crisis right now. Perhaps you’ve even experienced this yourself. If so, you’re not alone! For millions of families, the dream of homeownership feels hopelessly out of reach. College graduates beginning their careers face high rent prices that force them to live with four, maybe five roommates.
Across the country, more and more Americans are spending the majority of their income on rent. They are struggling to even find affordable housing. And houses are selling far out of a middle-class household’s price range.
Sadly, this lack of affordable housing is preventing newcomers, including low-income immigrants and refugees, from achieving a stable sense of home here in the United States.
The Housing Crisis’ Impact on Refugees and Immigrants
When Daniel arrived as a refugee in the United States, sleeping with a roof over his head every night was a new experience. Finally, after living in refugee settlements and sleeping under plastic tarps for years, he now had an apartment of his own.
Like Daniel, many refugees come to the United States having not lived in a home of their own for years – or at all. They may come from U.S. military bases (in the case of Afghan evacuees), a refugee camp, or a cramped space shared with friends and family. Others were displaced more recently but lost their homes in terrifying circumstances as they fled violence or natural disasters.
Establishing a home in the United States is an important first step toward recovery after the loss of so much. Refugees have lost their homes, their livelihoods, and often their family. They have to rebuild their lives in the U.S. – and feeling at home in a new house or apartment paves the way for their future success. From getting a new job to enrolling in school and exercising hospitality for new friends and family…thriving begins with home.
But not having affordable housing can jeopardize that.
The Housing Situation in Chicagoland
In Chicago and the nearby suburbs, families face several big challenges when seeking to establish a home.
- There is a decreasing number of affordable housing units available to low-income families.
- Families are paying more than half of their income on rent and utilities each month (30% is considered affordable).
- Combined, these factors make it harder for families to pay for other essentials, including healthy food and medical care.
- As a result, families are at higher risk of eviction and homelessness – which is devastating for families.
Sadly, the COVID eviction moratorium, which ensured that renters did not lose their housing, put financial pressure on landlords. Their loss of income and subsequent debt have motivated them to sell properties to developers. New investors “flip” properties, renovating to increase the rental value, making the same apartment unaffordable to low-income renters.
Unfortunately, property sales have also led to a loss of relationships between landlords and organizations like World Relief. These relationships of trust are crucial. Refugees who are new to the U.S. often do not yet have jobs, credit scores, or even social security numbers. Because of that, many landlords feel that renting a refugee family is a big risk.
World Relief can facilitate relationships and vouch for refugee families, but when landlords sell to new developers, those relationships disappear.
Refugees need available, affordable housing that is fully furnished with basic household items. This is essential for helping new arrivals understand their rights and responsibilities as tenants while building financial literacy and stability. And you can help make that possible.
Together, We Can Respond
At World Relief, we have found that paying rent is an important part of the adjustment process for refugee families. In fact, it helps refugee families build credit, learn U.S. financial systems, and understand tenant rights and responsibilities. It also provides a relationship to a landlord and creates the experience of true ownership of their living environment.
But paying rent can become a heavy burden if it costs most of the income from minimum wage jobs.
You can help by covering the cost of an apartment deposit and the first month’s rent. This buys time for a recently-arrived refugee family to settle in. For them to find and start a new job. And for them to start finding their way through a new culture.
But we still need long-term solutions.
World Relief is calling upon our partners and supporters to join in addressing the housing crisis throughout Chicagoland. Together, we can find affordable apartments with landlords who will rent to refugees, we can provide rent assistance to subsidize the cost of housing, and all of our neighbors can join together to advocate for new affordable housing development and the preservation of existing affordable units.
Three approaches to the affordable housing issue:
1. Subsidizing the cost of rent for refugee families.
Through rental assistance, we discount the cost of an apartment for a refugee family. This makes an otherwise unaffordable unit affordable. Give now!
2. Creating community connections.
Did you know that one of the best ways you can help is by connecting World Relief to people you know in real estate and the housing sector? We need landlords, property managers, and organizations to work together. That’s how we develop new permanent housing options that are affordable!
Do you have connections in these priority areas?
- Aurora
- Bloomingdale
- Carol Stream
- Evanston
- Glen Ellyn
- Glendale Heights
- Lombard
- Montgomery
- Morton Grove
- Oswego
- Rogers Park
- Skokie
- Villa Park
- West Chicago
- West Ridge
- Wheaton
3. Advocating locally, state-wide, and nationally.
Lastly, you can impact your neighborhood and beyond! Join advocacy work to create affordable housing, provide rental assistance vouchers, and save homes. When we advocate to develop and save affordable housing units, we take a step toward long-term solutions to this national problem.
Creating Home by Leading the Change
It’s through community collaboration and coordination that we can brainstorm solutions and create innovative solutions! If you have a permanent housing connection, please email chicagolandhousing@wr.org. As a result, you will help connect refugees and immigrants to safe, affordable housing. And that will change lives forever.
Together, we can ensure that every refugee has a place to call home.
MarĂa’s Story: Letter from a New U.S. Citizen
One of the most unique aspects of World Relief Chicagoland’s work serving immigrants and refugees is the diversity of people we get to meet. Each year, World Relief Chicagoland staff serve people who came to the United States from one of more than 100 different countries of origin. Together, they speak dozens of different languages.
Each brings a unique perspective, skills, and dreams for their life. For some, the dream is becoming a U.S. citizen.
Overcoming Barriers to Achieve Big Goals
However, these immigration neighbors also face unique barriers. Financial, cultural, language, and legal barriers keep them from experiencing legal justice. From reuniting with their families. From achieving their goals. Or from becoming U.S. citizens.
Because World Relief has been a trusted presence in Chicagoland for so long, it’s very common for those we serve to bring their friends and family back to World Relief offices when they need support.
Community members know that World Relief is a safe place where trusted staff and volunteers will help them reach their goals.
The Immigration Legal Services program staff are among these trusted staff. The immigration process can be confusing. Understanding the law and legal processes can be overwhelming. And navigating the legal system as an immigrant or refugee can be expensive and stressful. As experts in immigration law as well as the challenges faced by newcomers to the United States and the experiences of immigrants and refugees, World Relief’s Immigration Legal Services team builds relationships with people amid these stressful circumstances and becomes a vital source of information, counsel, and legal representation. They are problem solvers with people who have complex legal needs. They become trusted allies.
Meet MarĂa
MarĂa’s story shows how World Relief staff build relationships when providing legal representation. Like many others, MarĂa came to World Relief through a referral by a friend. She felt like she had tried everything, and yet was getting nowhere. She was exhausted by the complex and costly legal system. Then her friend recommended she visit World Relief.
Even though I did my citizenship process in the middle of the pandemic, this amazing team of lawyers did everything for me by Zoom – no contact – helping and guiding me through every step.
MarĂa, an immigration legal services client
Not only did MarĂa receive legal help with her immigration process once, and then twice, but she ended up referring other family members too! After completing her naturalization process to become a U.S. Citizen, MarĂa wrote this letter to express her thanks.
Read the Letter from a New U.S. Citizen
Hello! Greetings. My name is MarĂa. I was born in Venezuela. Because of the complicated and delicate social and political situation in my country, I decided to come to this country [the United States] nine years ago. I met my husband in 2015. When we decided to get married, we needed guidance. After calling various immigration lawyers, it was too much information [for us] to process. We felt at a loss.
A friend of mine recommended we call World Relief.
We made an appointment. We met with one of their dear lawyers, Emily, and she guided us through the whole process. Everything went quite fast, [with] never an obstacle or mistake. It was a flawless process.
This was the reason we decided, when it was time, to also apply for my citizenship with World Relief.
Even though I did my citizenship process in the middle of the pandemic, this amazing team of lawyers did everything for me by Zoom – no contact – always helping and guiding me through every step.
Again, no mistakes. They were always so careful and checked every document that we filled out, making sure that no errors were made. It was also quite faster than expected.
I received my interview date in just eight months although it was supposed to take a year or more. [World Relief] helped me check the process. I’m not very good with computers and technology, but they were always there to help, always answered all my questions by phone or email. They also guided me through all the possible scenarios for the citizenship interview. It all ran smoothly, I brought everything they told me and followed their instructions.
I’m a very happy and proud citizen now, and I am sure I would not have been able to do this without World Relief. I am very thankful for all their guidance and help.
I pray you can continue helping others as you helped me. Thank you so much.
Sincerely,
MarĂa
Helping Our Immigrant Neighbors Thrive
World Relief Chicagoland walks with people like MarĂa to serve immigrant community members on the path to stable immigration status, giving them the security and peace-of-mind they need to flourish in the U.S.
Do you or someone you know need immigration legal services? Are you interested in providing more people like MarĂa with trusted legal guides to navigate their immigration process? You can help new Americans reunite with their family, become citizens, gain work authorization, and achieve protection from violence.
Learn more about World Relief Chicagoland’s Immigration Legal Services program.
Read more like this:
5 Impacts of Resettling Refugees
What happens when countries increase refugee resettlement?
The current U.S. presidential administration recently announced that the refugee ceiling for the 2022 federal fiscal year (which began on October 1, 2021, and will continue through September 30, 2022) will be 125,000. Reaching this number will be difficult. Policy changes from the former presidential administration and the ongoing pandemic are complex challenges. However, we can still expect that the U.S. will be accepting many more refugees in the next 12 months… and welcoming an increasing number of refugees may make Americans wonder: how does refugee resettlement impact the communities that receive new arrivals?
At World Relief, we believe that our Christian faith calls us to welcome and love our immigrant and refugee neighbors – regardless of any benefits that they might bring to us. However, we know that the increase of refugees might bring up questions or concerns, so here’s what happens when a country like the United States resettles more refugees.
1. Entrepreneurship grows as refugees and immigrants found new businesses
What is the quality that so many MBAs say makes a good entrepreneur? So often, the quality is the ability to tolerate risk! Starting a new business is risky and can be very scary – especially if you are taking out a loan, spending your life savings, or starting a new partnership! With that in mind, it’s not surprising that refugees are incredibly entrepreneurial and have the highest entrepreneurship rates along both the U.S.-born and foreign-born populations! Refugees are forced to exercise adaptability, innovation, and resilience often – think about the risk of leaving your home to start a life in a new country.
Refugees are so entrepreneurial that in 2015, 181,000 refugee entrepreneurs generated $4.6 billion in business income, providing all kinds of tangible benefits to Americans! New businesses are also responsible for a big chunk of new job creation, so by becoming entrepreneurs, refugees benefit the job sector in amazing ways that impact everyone for the better!
2. Businesses gain employees to fill in labor gaps
Did you know that the foreign-born population (immigrants and refugees) works at a higher rate than the native-born population (people who were born in the U.S. or are native U.S. citizens)? It’s true! In fact, the refugee population coming to the U.S. tends to be of working age (25-64 years old) and has a higher employment rate! The data shows that refugees who come to the U.S. get to work – and rather than taking jobs from native-born workers, they fill important positions in sectors that have a high need for labor!
3. Receiving communities gain new perspectives as refugees bring skills and insights
Don’t you love meeting someone who brings a whole different perspective and list of skills and experiences to the conversation? Refugees often speak multiple languages, have professional qualifications and skills, and know life in more than one culture. That makes them a huge asset to the workplaces they join and important contributors to community life! Refugee resettlement can bring new ideas, customs, cuisine, art, and poetry.
4. Cities come back to life
Refugees have the power to bring dying cities back to life! Past success stories show how refugee resettlement in a city can bring new vibrancy, economic life, and culture to cities experiencing economic slowdowns and declining populations. In Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, 7,000 Vietnamese families changed an entire neighborhood for the better. In Utica, New York, refugee families are 25% of the population. There, the county’s executive officer says that they have “renovated and revitalized whole neighborhoods.” In Cleveland, Ohio, a 2012 study showed that refugees from Bhutan, Ukraine, Burma, and Somalia created new jobs and boosted the Cleveland economy by $48 million. Over just one year, refugee-owned businesses directly brought $7.6 million in economic activity to Cleveland.
“[T]he refugees have renovated and revitalized whole neighborhoods.”
Anthony Picente, Jr., Oneida County’s Executive Officer
And this can be so much more than a short-term solution for these cities! Not only do refugee arrivals boost the population and bring new development, but the impact continues well into the future! Refugees are magnets. Their thriving communities attract friends and family who join in transforming the neighborhood for good! These new arrivals buy homes, start businesses, raise children, and get involved in the neighborhood. And by doing that, they create a need for jobs, bring new vibrancy, and boost the economy.
5. Economies flourish
To make a long story short – refugees help their new economies to flourish! Over and over again, there have been reports showing that refugees are positive contributors to the U.S. economy. Though there are educational and resettlement costs to welcoming new refugee arrivals, they are far surpassed by the benefits!
A report in 2017 found that refugees contributed $63 billion more than they cost between 2005 and 2014. Specifically, refugees brought $41 billion in net fiscal benefits to the federal government and $22 billion to state and local governments. That is after you take out the costs of $35.9 billion that were largely due to education! And second-generation Americans – including the children of refugees—go on to have higher incomes, educations, and rates of homeownership than their parents. Refugee resettlement reaps rewards for future generations!
Refugee Resettlement: A Unique Calling and Opportunity
The global crisis of displaced people is worse than ever. The good news is that the U.S. has a unique opportunity to respond by accepting more refugee arrivals this year.
World Relief provides the services that refugees need. But you have the opportunity to help refugees rebuild their lives. You can make a life-long impact when you act out of love and compassion to love your refugee neighbor.
We don’t welcome refugees because of the benefits they bring to us. Our faith calls us to “welcome the stranger.”
For us, the word refugee is no longer an abstract descriptor, or merely a legal designation or a statistic: he or she is our neighbor, colleague, friend, or even family.
iSSAM sMEIR, MATT SOERENS, AND STEPHAN BAUMAN
SEEKING REFUGE: On the Shores of the Global Refugee Crisis
And yet, the evidence shows that the communities that do welcome refugees are often richly blessed in return. In other words, refugee resettlement is a win-win!
Join World Relief in welcoming our immigrant and refugee neighbors this year.
Read more:
The Volunteer and Refugee Friendship Helping Both Reach their Goals
Who are the friends who have changed your life?
Who are the people who have changed your life? Are they friends who share your passions? Family members who have known you for years? Coworkers who helped you do challenging projects?
We can all attest to how relationships and friends can change everything.
That’s why, when World Relief Chicagoland matches our volunteers with opportunities to serve, we focus on relationships.
When you apply to volunteer, our staff want to hear about you – your unique skills, passions, and goals. That’s because your gifts and interests might uniquely align with the goals of an immigrant or refugee. You might be uniquely equipped to help them reach their goals!
When we match a volunteer with an immigrant, refugee, or asylee to help provide transportation, tutoring, or career mentorship, it’s so that you can walk with them. And together, you will both learn and grow!
And you might end up building a meaningful relationship as a result. Max, a World Relief Chicagoland volunteer, and Daniel, a refugee, are a fantastic example of just how meaningful these friendships can be.
“I cannot express how meaningful our relationship and connection has been.”
– Max, Volunteer with World Relief Chicagoland, referring to his friendship with a World Relief client named Daniel
Meet Daniel
From the age of 7, Daniel knew a life of change and uncertainty. He remembers a before time, when his home country was a beautiful place full of loving family. The violence that broke out in the 1990s ruined that. When conflict and violence killed his family and pushed Daniel from his home in the Democratic Republic of Congo in 1999, he fled to safety in Uganda. There, he lived in refugee camps for nearly 20 years.
Their home was a plastic shelter. Food was scarce and water was hard to access. Even as a young boy, Daniel woke up as early as 3 a.m. to collect water. “There was not enough food,” Daniel told us. As he showed a video of the refugee camp, he reflected on life there. “It was very hard.”
Eventually, Daniel moved to another settlement camp. That camp’s conditions were a little bit better. As he grew up, Daniel fought to study and achieve an education despite their poverty and his many responsibilities. This allowed him to achieve an academic scholarship to study at a university in Uganda and achieve a degree in human services in 2016.
The Future Became Brighter
Then, in 2018, Daniel was accepted for resettlement in the United States. “I’ve never been excited like I was [at] that time. I was extremely happy,” he told us. Among the many changes he experienced with life in the United States, one blessing was the most basic: he slept inside a building – something he had only done while studying at university in Uganda. In the United States, he became connected to World Relief’s services and started working toward stability – and dreaming about his future.
And that’s when he met Max.
Meet Max
Like many of our volunteers, World Relief Chicagoland’s mission and work serving immigrants and refugees in vulnerable situations inspired Max. He wanted to be part of the work. That prompted him to apply to volunteer as a virtual youth tutor in the Chicago office. However, in talking with World Relief staff, discovered another way to use his skills and passion. As a pre-med student at Loyola University, Max has long been working toward a future career in medicine and was a great candidate to join World Relief as a volunteer health advocate.
Friends with Shared Passions
As a volunteer health advocate, Max walks with Daniel to help him navigate the intricacies of the health care system and manage various health tasks. He also helps Daniel work toward other goals – such as Daniel’s dream of becoming a nurse. “He has helped me so much,” Daniel said. As a pre-med student himself, Max helps Daniel study for his anatomy and physiology classes and the two discuss their shared interest in the healthcare field.
But the relationship is far from one-sided. In return, Daniel has shown Max a new perspective. “Through getting to know Daniel, I have been able to learn more about the gaps in our healthcare system, as well as the good things that can happen,” Max shared. “My hope is that in the future, I can help change the parts that are broken.”
Daniel has an insider perspective on what it’s like to receive healthcare as a refugee in the United States. Through him, Max has gained a greater awareness of the many tasks required to effectively navigate the healthcare system.
Dreams for the Future
“Once I am an established provider, I want to work to change the policies around the gaps in the healthcare system,” Max says. He wants to serve individuals who can’t easily get healthcare. To do this, he will take what he has learned from Daniel and engage other people in vulnerable situations. If they share their experiences, perhaps they can be part of improving systems. In the meantime, Daniel will focus on achieving his goal to become a nurse. He wants to be part of the mission and deliver vital healthcare to everyone. Daniel described how he will value the individual and their unique perspectives – especially those who are often excluded or forgotten. He shared, “I want to give the best services to marginalized communities.”
“I want to give the best services to marginalized communities.”
– Daniel, referring to his future career aspirations as a healthcare provider
Together, both Max and Daniel want to be part of making healthcare more accessible for people who are overlooked or underserved. And they are equipping each other to do just that.
You Can Build Transformative Relationships Too!
For more than 40 years, World Relief Chicagoland has connected volunteers like you with opportunities to serve. And as a result, thousands of volunteers have made a life-changing difference for our immigrant and refugee neighbors. If you bring your whole self – gifts, abilities, and passions – to the table, you will gain the chance to experience transformation too. We will provide opportunities for you to walk with individuals like Daniel, who are rebuilding their lives in Chicagoland.
Will you begin a transformative relationship?
English 
Spanish