Hope’s RST fundraiser

Refugee Services of Texas is a nonprofit dedicated to providing services through compassion and dignity to refugees, survivors of human trafficking, and others who have been displaced here in Texas with the ultimate goal of seeing those families become self-sufficient.

I first encountered refugees in 2016 while I was studying abroad in Greece. I was invited to a Syrian refugee camp in Athens where I got to hear the good, bad, and ugly that the Syrians who fled had to share with me. I vividly remember looking at so many who had lost hope in their eyes, all the while seeing the joy and pride that the kids I played soccer with felt for Syria--for their home.

They say home is where your heart is, but what happens when you can never go back to where your heart yearns for the most? For many in that refugee camp in Athens, and for millions of others around the world, that is a question they are forced to face often with no time to process what they've lost. 

Did you know that the average time someone in a refugee camp will wait to get accepted for resettlement into a country such as the United States is 10 years?

I cannot begin to know the pain and heartache that comes from fleeing your home to preserve your life. I certainly cannot begin to know what it is like to spend a decade in limbo, waiting to have a roof over your head again that you can call home.  I do know that I have the power to help those individuals and families who end up here in Texas find peace and comfort as they learn to navigate a new county with new languages, customs, and expectations.

That is where Refugee Services of Texas steps in. When you support RST, you are supporting over 200 case managers, grant writers, supervisors, program compliance officers, marketing professions, and more to provide crucial services to those who enter their doors. You are supporting the hundreds of refugees each year who look to RST to be that guide in an unfamiliar place, often needing help to buy food for their family or help navigating the public school system or even longing for a community mentor and friend. You are supporting a culture of welcome for those who need it the most. 

I invite you to join me in supporting a culture of welcome and community. Whether you are here in Texas, Ohio, California, or anywhere in between, you are exactly where you need to be to change the life of someone who is looking for community and support. 

Open hearts. Fresh starts. Where all are welcome.