Announcing Rural Welcoming Initiative 2024 participants, peer learning partnerships
Welcoming America is thrilled to announce the 10 participants of the Rural Welcoming Initiative (RWI) for 2024: Brattleboro Development Credit Corporation – Brattleboro, Vermont Catholic Charities of East Tennessee & HOLA Lakeway (partner participants) – Morristown, Tennessee City of Garden City – Garden City, Kansas City of New Ulm – New Ulm, Minnesota City of…
Read MoreWelcoming takes root in the south: How one Florida community fosters safety and language access
Words and intentions aren’t enough to create a community where everyone belongs. Residents of Gainesville and Alachua County, Florida know how much effort it takes to make their home a more welcoming place to live. “To be a welcoming community means that you have policies in place which become everyday behaviors and actions, in turn,…
Read MoreOrganizing 101: How nonprofit advocates can bring local government along for the welcoming journey
If you’ve ever wondered why key leaders aren’t at the table in your community’s welcoming coalition, the answer may be that your table isn’t big enough. With over 15 years of working with local governments and nonprofits, Welcoming America has seen many local nonprofits lead a community’s welcoming efforts. Many of these advocates have built…
Read MoreChampioning the Power and Potential of ‘Natural Helpers’: A Guide
Natural Helpers programs recognize the crucial role immigrant and refugee leaders fulfill as informal “helpers’’ in their communities by formalizing, supporting, and expanding their capacity for civic leadership. This guide presents promising practices from interviews with Natural Helpers program coordinators and lessons learned from the Natural Helpers communities of practice convened by Welcoming America. Three…
Read MoreAs Title 42 expires, an opportunity emerges to build a more welcoming America
As Title 42 ends this week, we urge the Biden administration and Congress to use this opportunity to pursue a comprehensive immigration policy that is both orderly and compassionate, rather than succumbing to fear. All immigration is local, which means the end of Title 42 will lead to more people seeking asylum at the border…
Read MoreThree tips for community foundations wanting to advance immigrant inclusion
A new white paper from Welcoming America explores the capacity community foundations have to advance the work of welcoming newcomers into U.S. communities. Through our project and white paper we ask: How are community foundations currently engaging in welcoming work? What are the opportunities for community philanthropy to play an even stronger role in advancing…
Read MoreRevamped Certified Welcoming program includes star designations, new criteria
Welcoming America is pleased to announce the second iteration of the Certified Welcoming program, its signature program that recognizes U.S. cities, towns, and counties for their welcoming policies and programs. Certified Welcoming is introducing a star designation system that will allow more communities to achieve one of five star designations under the Welcoming Standard version…
Read MoreAdvancing Welcoming through Community Foundations
Recorded on April 13, 2023. Welcoming America, in partnership with CFLeads, explores the ways in which communities can advance welcoming through community foundations. Against increasing levels of global migration, demographic change, and efforts to advance equity and inclusion, community foundations have an interest in — and responsibility to — invest in efforts to create more…
Read More#WomenOfWelcoming: Celebrating history and inclusion for Women’s History Month
In the United States, Women’s History Month takes place during March to celebrate the contributions and achievements of women in a variety of fields, from the past to the present. At Welcoming America, we are proud to lead a membership network of 300+ nonprofits and local government organizations that work to help communities become more…
Read MoreU.S., Australian participants selected for exchange program between rural communities
As part of Welcoming America’s continued work in fostering rural leadership in welcoming and inclusion, we are thrilled to announce the 16 participants selected for the forthcoming Rural Welcoming Communities Exchange program (RWCE): U.S. participants: Celeste Koppe of the West Central Initiative (Fergus Falls, MN) Fatima Said of Project FINE (Winona, MN) David Kramer of…
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