Make Welcome News & Notes

The Book of Ruth: Threads of Grace Woven Through a Refugee Story We were studying the story of Ruth for our Monday devotions at the Women’s Center. Over multiple weeks, we walked through her journey together. I’ve spent a lot of time meditating on this book, and then recently, a friend of mine shared a …

Yes, it started with typing passwords. Since that time, the Refugee Women’s Digital Literacy class has blazed ahead! Here’s the skills students have learned as we have piloted several different digital literacy units for limited English speakers: Typing Lessons: After having so many problems with students searching for letters on the keyboard, our main teacher …

Nora held up her hand to me as she entered class last week. “Teacher, look!” she said, obviously pleased. I was puzzled, as her hands were empty. “Look, Teacher,” she repeated, this time pointing to a word written on her hand in blue ink. Wobbly letters, but yes. It was her name. I read it …

Sometimes we hear the question, why refugees? Why immigrants? Is this REALLY an important work? We believe it is. Our ministry was born out of friendships built between American women and women from Burma. We discovered very quickly that we had more in common than different. We loved our children. We needed other moms to …

Every day, refugee women in Charlotte face the challenge of rebuilding their lives in a new country. Many arrive with incredible talent, resilience, and a deep desire to succeed but lack the tools and opportunities to thrive. Our vocational training program is the bridge to their brighter future. With your support, we can provide these …

Almost every one of our classes has some “frustrating” students in it. These are usually (but not always) the students that know sewing, but don’t speak English. They run ahead on the projects without waiting for the teacher OR looking at the instructions. Inevitably, these students create problems for themselves and have to redo the project.

She wakes up before dawn to get to work. Breakfast is in the kitchen for her children. She checks the house, locks the door and runs to catch the bus. The hours are short and her paycheck only covers part of her rent. Yet without childcare or paid training options, this precious refugee mom has no other option but to take whatever work she can to keep her family afloat.

4 women hired to sew. 14 women received sewing machines. 1 woman received a serger for at-home work. Friendships make. Skills learned. Stories told. It’s been a sweet year of sewing classes. Thank you for your support!

We’ve had an overwhelming amount of material needs over the past 3-4 months as rents are being raised, work hours cut, new refugee families arriving with not enough caseworkers to care for them, and Afghan families scrambling to find new homes when landlords won’t renew the lease. As 658 staff and family mentors dealt with …

“Can you give me a ride?” she asked. I checked her address (it was close), thought about the class schedule (there is really plenty of time), and gulped. Why is the giving of time so hard to do? The transfer of time from project work to people investment always feels painful to me for some reason.

It’s a tough world for female refugees. They face hurdles to education, to healthcare and to even basic safety. Too often, girls and women are considered less needful of educational attainment than their male counterparts.

You can make an impact by helping us create a safe and bright future for new refugee Artisans at Make Welcome. Will you give today to provide safety, community, and job training for more students?