Today is World Refugee Day—an international day designated by the United Nations to honor refugees around the globe.
It falls each year on June 20 and celebrates the strength and courage of people who have been forced to flee their home country to escape conflict or persecution.
What are we doing through The Off Ramp and Threads by Nomad to support the thriving of refugees in the United States?
In the Charlotte, NC area, The Off Ramp is partnering with local agencies and churches to get a house ready to receive an Afghan refugee family. (Did you know that 76,000 Afghan refugees have arrived in the United States?)
We are grateful to Tommy Hutto for the provision of the home and to the volunteers who helped us clean out the home!
Soon, we will be gathering the things needed to outfit the house as well as some funding for utilities. We'll be sure to send another email when we have more details.
Threads by Nomad is partnering with Make Welcome Sewing School in Charlotte, NC and with Kit in Houston, TX to reimagine our clothing production.
Both organizations train and hire refugee women to work in healthy and supportive environments. Thanks to this partnership, we will soon be launching a new collection of skirts and tops, and clergy robes and stoles are being shipped to customers around the country!
Thanks to gifts to The Off Ramp, we've been able to provide Make Welcome with six sewing machines to be awarded to graduates of their sewing program as well as a beautiful serger machine to help the women learn to sew professionally!
We are also sponsoring Atia, one of the refugee women. We are teaching her to make and sell t-shirt quilts. We have already had three orders placed! We will continue to support her in the development of this craft and will assist her in setting up an e-commerce platform when that time comes.
Whether through the provision of safety and comfort or of skill development and fair income, The Off Ramp and Threads are committed to helping refugees living in the United States—and around the world—rebuild their lives. We are committed not just to their survival, but also to their thriving.
What will you do this World Refugee Day and every day to celebrate and honor them, too?
