In West Lebanon, discussion builds a bridge of words

Organizations are mobilizing volunteers in hospitals to connect low-income families with human services which address social factors like poor housing, nutrition, etc. so patients are able to work and thus afford healthier lives.

Many young Latina women live their lives in fear of gang violence. The Montgomery County Street Outreach Network rescues girls in danger and offers services to them in order to help them change their chances of success.

Pomegranate Kitchen in Wellington, New Zealand employees refugee women from around the world. The kitchen, which operates collaboratively rather than in a hierarchy, encourages these chefs to grow their cooking and managerial strengths as well as overcome cultural boundaries in order to become financially independent.

In California, half of school-aged children are the children of immigrants. Among many other initiatives in the city, a community-wide training project in Fresno aims to improve how adults in the city work with students of immigrant families. One of the challenges of the renewed push for a bilingual approach - finding sufficient bilingual teachers after years of the state's English-only education policies.

For many people who were deported to Mexico after decades living in the United States, the city of Nogales provides a renewed sense of community. The city is home to the Centro de Sueños rehabilitation center, or Dream Center, a place where many Mexican individuals deported by the U.S. Immigrations and Customs Enforcement find shelter, food, support, jobs, and new families. Built by a preacher from Phoenix, the Dream Center gives participants a renewed sense of hope.

School on Wheels is a program serving children in a refugee camp along the U.S.-Mexico border by transforming an old school bus into a space for learning. The school can fit up to 80 children, all of whom are waiting for asylum in the U.S. It is run by the California-based nonprofit, Yes We Can, and it currently has 3 teachers and over 30 students. The school aims to teach the children values like love, happiness, and being a good person while they are at a particularly tumultuous time in their lives.

Ahmadiyya Muslim Youth Association Canada and Humanity First Canada teamed up to transform a bus into a mobile shelter for the homeless, complete with 20 beds, a kitchenette, a bathroom, internet, and more. The program is called Shelter Bus and, since launching in December 2019, has served over 1,000 people and reaches up to 50 people a day. The bus has been described as "heaven" by some guests, and they are now planning to have 3 buses by the next year.

Activists in Berkeley, California, are filling in what they say is a gap in homeless services during the coronavirus outbreak. Volunteers are safely delivering food and other supplies to those without shelter.

The Business Center for New Americans, a nonprofit that offers loans with a focus on immigrant-run businesses, is going above and beyond to make sure its lenders get through the COVID-19 economic crisis. They are offering tailored support on how to apply for Economic Injury Disaster Loans, sharing other grant and loan opportunities, and using its status part of the SBA’s Microloan Program to offer new loans.

The Jesuit Refugee Service (JRS) provides basic necessities, hot showers, English classes, and social interaction for refugees in Greece. JRS also opened a Women Day Centre which catered specifically to the needs of refugee women, providing them with health care, clothing, showers, and haircuts.