7/25/2023 0 Comments Clarkston georgia expo![]() Everybody has a story-of husbands and wives forced to flee to different countries, of children separated from their mother or father, of brothers who are still looking for their sisters. These recent reductions are most heartbreaking for refugees who are in the process of trying to reunite their families. “I see daily the impact of our unwelcoming.” “Systemic unwelcoming is counter to the scriptural mandate to provide for the vulnerable,” she said. Moreover, as an evangelical Christian, Murray is grieved to see how receiving refugees into our country has become such a politicized issue. ![]() Residents fear any threat to the resettlement program in the nation at large could affect the atmosphere of welcome that Murray and others have fought so hard to cultivate. In Clarkston, a third of the population is foreign-born, and 60 languages are spoken in just over a square mile. There is a unique sense of cultural camaraderie in the town, which sees itself as an example of how a community built around refugee resettlement could be successful. This diverse community is the heart of Clarkston and a symbol of the American dream. ![]() Her shop is the de facto town center, where native and foreign born alike gather. Kitti Murray, the founder of Refuge-a Clarkston coffee shop that hires refugees and offers them career training-has seen firsthand how these national statistics have translated to the local level. “Hardening policies toward refugees can lead to hardening attitudes, which can mean less help for those trying to escape violence.” A community built on welcoming “What’s more concerning to us than any impact on our operations is the impact it could have on our refugee friends,” says Ben Irwin with Preemptive Love Atlanta. Should these limitations and restrictions continue, the consequences could prove dire-both for those seeking refuge around the world as well as those who are already resettled in our country. Depending on the outcome of this election, they have developed a Biden plan and a Trump plan, the latter of which includes the bleak prospect of extinction.Īnd after more than two decades of serving refugees, Arnold says, “Never before has my life been so directly affected by who will become president.” Given the precarious trajectory set by the current president, Arnold and his team have been forced to prepare for two potential futures. Using shared resources from the handful of remaining resettlement agencies in the Atlanta area, Arnold continues to provide logistical support-helping the few incoming refugees find jobs, obtain affordable housing, and get situated in the Clarkston community.Īrnold’s job security is still directly tied to the yearly caps for new refugee arrivals and resettlement funding, which are determined at a national level. John Arnold, a 23-year veteran of World Relief Atlanta, joined the Welcome Co-op, a new nonprofit formed last year to make the most efficient use of dwindling dollars. This month, the Trump administration announced, as predicted, another record low: Just 15,000 refugees will be welcomed into the US over the next fiscal year. Sieweke, fellow former World Relief staffers, and a city packed full of Christian ministry workers and refugees themselves have been forced to rethink how their mission could continue. After serving with World Relief for 20 years and personally helping over 10,000 refugees resettle in the community, Sieweke told him, “I feel like my calling is being taken away.” That day in 2019, Sieweke called the pastor of his church to update their network of prayer partners. The number of admitted refugees had dwindled from a national cap of 110,000 in the previous administration to 45,000, then 30,000, then 18,000 under President Donald Trump. Though the evangelical organization remained as dedicated as ever, there were simply far fewer opportunities to help and much less funding to do so. Then, on a quiet morning last fall, the agency’s former director, Joshua Sieweke, got the call that his office- like other branches in Nashville, Miami, and Columbus, Ohio-would be shutting down. ![]() Since 1979, World Relief’s Atlanta office assisted thousands of refugee families who resettled there, helping them find apartments and apply for jobs, enrolling their children in local schools, bringing them to medical appointments, and giving them a hand with paperwork. The small city of Clarkston, Georgia, has been called “the most diverse square mile in America” and “the Ellis Island of the South.”
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