Because of you, this campaign raised $10,000.

Four weeks ago, we opened this campaign hoping to raise $7,000. We are writing today to tell you that, outside of the steady support of our monthly givers, you gave just over $10,000 in the month of July. We still can't quite believe it, and we wanted you to be among the first to hear what that means.

Because of this campaign, we will be able to continue both of our Strengthening Families groups, weekly gatherings where refugee families build community, process what they've been through, and learn to navigate life in a new country together. Your gifts cover the space these groups meet in, the facilitators and translators who lead them, and the small things that make a weekly gathering feel like something worth showing up for, from snacks to transportation.

Because of this campaign, we can also continue our support of Bernard as he works toward a degree and a future helping others who have faced what he has faced. He had an interview for his latest visa application earlier this week, and we are waiting to hear the outcome. Whatever comes next, we are grateful we can keep standing with him while he waits.

This campaign also means we can keep our current projects running, the sewing and embroidery work in Southeast Asia, the girls' programs in Uganda, the partnerships with makers here at home, without having to scale any of it back. And it means we have room to look closely at two new opportunities that have come our way, one in North Carolina and one in Texas, to see where else this work might grow.

Over these four weeks, we told you about Bernard, about Priscilla and Mary, about Josh and Valerie building something lasting in Kampala. But there are a few more people this campaign touched that we never got the chance to introduce you to properly.

As with the stories we've shared throughout this campaign, names here have been changed to protect the privacy and safety of everyone involved.

There's Zeke and Sarah, who arrived from Germany with less than a day's notice and were met at the airport by a group of us holding welcome signs. They spent just over a year with us before moving closer to family, and they are now building a life of their own in the DC area.

There's Joseph and Francine, who arrived at midnight with their four children, one with special needs, into a home volunteers had spent weeks preparing for them. Their youngest was born here, into safety, with Nell at Francine's side through the night.

There's Angel, still in Afghanistan, reachable only through a neighbor's phone every so often. Her son, safe now because of choices that put his life at risk at home, carries her gratitude to us in every call, even as she waits for a safety she may not live to see.

There's Tammy, who came to us through our partners at Make Welcome sewing school wanting to learn a new skill. Nell has spent this summer teaching her to make t-shirt quilts, work that now earns her a fair wage and a bit of independence.

And there's Renee, just beginning a project of her own called Heritage Textiles, aimed at preserving and celebrating the skills of Afghan women through storytelling and craft. We're proud to be walking alongside her as she builds it.

None of this—the people we told you about, the people we're only now introducing, and the people we will work with in the future—happens without you. Thank you for showing up for all of it. Thank you for getting us here.