Stories and Updates from WelcomeNST
June 2025
Welcome to the very first edition of The Beacon, a quarterly newsletter from WelcomeNST. Our mission has always been about more than refugee resettlement; it’s about community, connection, and compassion. With The Beacon, we aim to lift your gaze above the headlines and into the heart of what’s possible. Each edition will bring you stories of impact, updates on our mission, tools for engagement, and ways to be part of something bigger. Whether you’re an NST leader, volunteer, donor, or someone who’s just beginning to explore what welcome can look like, you are part of this movement. Together, we illuminate the superpower of community. ​
Be the Movement: A Message from Liz
I’ve always tried to live my life with one eye looking back from the end of my story. And I can’t help but see this moment in which our very freedoms defined by our Constitution are under attack as one that I and the generations that follow will look back on as the battle of my lifetime. And once that next volume has long since been written and history has made its judgements of us all, I want to know in my heart that I cast my lot with the tired, the poor, and the huddled masses.
​
As attacks escalate on residents and families in our own neighborhoods, regardless of legal status, we are calling on each of you to “Be the Movement. Welcome the Stranger.” Our goal is to unleash the power of community to welcome by engaging neighbors to form Neighborhood Support Teams (NSTs) that surround a refugee or immigrant family with love and support, starting in New England then expanding across the U.S. Through grassroots partnerships, WelcomeNST has identified families that are here lawfully and are primed for self-sufficiency but need our help, and we are ready to match these families with NSTs in New England Learn more here.
​
This is a movement driven by love, not hate; faith, not fear; and compassion, not anger. It’s the superpower of community at work to welcome someone from the outside who’s unknown, to the inside where they are one with a community. And while this action does not define what happens next, it does mean that these families won't have to face these challenges alone.
​​​WelcomeNST 2025 Update: Pivoting and Meeting the Moment  
This year has been one of urgent pivots, deep resolve, and remarkable community strength. In the early months of this year, we found ourselves racing to respond. Refugee families were arriving in the U.S. through various legal pathways only to find themselves stuck in a system overwhelmed by abrupt shutdowns, policy changes, and limited support. Many had nowhere to go. So, we did what we always do: we showed up. ​
​
With little warning and no time for standard preparation, communities across the country, from Massachusetts to California, from Texas to New York, rallied. They opened their homes, hearts, and hands to welcome nearly 100 Afghan allies, the one legal pathway still open to families. None of these families were approved to travel until they had a team to welcome them, so these NSTs literally saved lives. Unbelievable.
​
During this time, we also partnered with NSTs to help families already here understand and access critical legal protections, including assistance with asylum filings to safeguard against deportation. Communities once again rallied, stepping forward to offer stability, hope, and welcome at pivotal moments.
​
Now, as the landscape has shifted yet again, we are focused on the following:
​
-
The Special Immigrant Visa (SIV) program remains the only open legal pathway for refugee resettlement. These are individuals and families (primarily Afghans) who risked their lives as our allies in service to U.S. missions overseas. Today, we are laser-focused on welcoming as many SIV families as possible.
-
AWE (Ambassadors of Welcome) is a new online community created by WelcomeNST and extended to our national partners including CSH and HIAS to connect anyone supporting refugee and immigrant families across the country, whether you're a sponsor, volunteer, or advocate. AWE offers a space to learn from experts, connect with others locally and nationally, join groups on advocacy and support, and be part of a growing, welcoming movement. It’s a work in progress, and it’s free, open to all, and organizationally neutral. Ready to join? Register and start exploring AWE here. 
-
Be the Movement. Welcome the Stranger. As stated above, we’re building a bold, grassroots movement to unleash the power of good neighbors across the country. People who are ready to surround refugee and immigrant families with love and support. This is a movement driven by love, not hate. Faith, not fear. Compassion, not anger. As public support shrinks and deportations rise, regardless of legal status, now is the time. Ready to Join the Movement? Learn More!
​
We don’t know what new policies or global events lie ahead. But we do know this: we will be there. We will adapt. We will act. We will keep showing up. We hope you’ll join us.
Spotlight: Team Denver
One refugee’s journey to the United States was long, uncertain, and filled with hardship. As a wartime ally to the U.S., he applied for a Special Immigrant Visa (SIV) in 2018. Years passed, and it wasn’t until early 2025 that his visa was finally issued. But there was no time to celebrate because he had no way to purchase plane tickets for himself, his wife, and their five children.
Stranded in a hostile country, they faced constant fear. His children couldn’t attend school, and harassment was so intense that the family rarely left their home. The idea of returning to Afghanistan was impossible.
With additional support from other partners, travel arrangements were made, bringing his family to safety in the United States. WelcomeNST helped build the team to facilitate this welcome. When he landed in Denver, he was met by his sister, who was already living in the U.S., and Sarah, the team lead. The reunion with his sister was deeply emotional.
Later that evening, eleven people crammed into his small one-bedroom apartment. They spoke about new possibilities. “His daughters were so excited to go to school,” Sarah said. “When I told them they could be anything, one of his daughters raised her hand and said, ‘Doctor.’ I’ll never forget that.”
Now, he and his family are beginning again with the support of a community that stood behind them without ever having met them. “All I do is tell people of a need,” Sarah said. “And every time, the community responds.”He is overwhelmed by the kindness of strangers who welcomed him not just with words, but with action. But he knows his story isn’t unique. “There are others just like me,” he says. “Others are still waiting. The question is—do their lives matter?”
“All I do is tell people of a need and the community responds.”
~ Sarah, WelcomeNST Team Lead
​​​​​​Donor Spotlight: Turning $30K into $130K
How Generosity Multiplies to Transform Lives
We’re deeply grateful to the North America Northeast Area of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints for their generous $30,000 humanitarian grant, an early and vital investment that launched our Sponsor Fund and supported the resettlement of over 60 refugees and immigrants across Massachusetts, Connecticut, and New Hampshire. Thanks to this seed funding, combined with community donations and peer-to-peer fundraising by our incredible Neighborhood Support Teams (NSTs), nearly $130,000 was raised to help ten families begin their new lives in the U.S.
Together, we're building something bigger than resettlement, we're building hope, resilience, and belonging.
​​​​​A Movement of Welcome is Rising and We Need You
Right now, across New England, refugee families who are here lawfully are being forced out of shelters, some as early as June 30. They need stable housing. They need support. They need you.
​
This is your moment to respond. You can help by starting a Neighborhood Support Team (NST) to walk alongside a family seeking safety and belonging. Can’t start a team? You can still make a life-changing impact by donating to our Sponsor Fund to meet the urgent needs of these families who are being welcomed by NSTs. ​​
