Let the Long Welcome begin: Introducing Canopy’s new Integration Unit! Y’all…We have some exciting news. We are thrilled to announce that in January 2020, Canopy will be rolling out its brand new Integration Unit! This unit is where all of our Long Welcome activities will take place. Its mission is to help every refugee enrolled become a…
Read MoreTales From a Canopy Volunteer: Football, Fishing, & Friendships.
“One thing I’ve learned is refugees are self-sufficient and resilient. ” Our vision is to see refugees and our community model thriving together. Together. That means one of our most important values is to cultivate reciprocal relationships: living, learning, and thriving together. But to do this, we depend heavily on the support of our amazing community…
Read MoreSo Now What?
Last Thursday, President Trump proposed a record low refugee admissions number of 18,000, crippling the refugee resettlement program and throwing the lives of tens of thousands of refugees into jeopardy. For decades, the US has admitted an average of 85,000 of the world’s most vulnerable refugees per year, leading the world in this vital humanitarian…
Read MorePresident Trump’s Record-Low Refugee Admissions Number Will All But End the Resettlement Program
Yesterday afternoon, President Trump proposed a record low refugee admissions number of 18,000, crippling the refugee resettlement program and throwing the lives of tens of thousands of refugees into jeopardy. For decades, the US has admitted an average of 85,000 of the world’s most vulnerable refugees per year, leading the world in this vital humanitarian…
Read MoreForty-One
We’ve got a number for you: 41. That’s the number of new refugees who have joined us here in Northwest Arkansas since we last wrote an update in this space (in… April. Whoops). That’s 41 men, women and children in seven families who have come to call our community home in the last four months….
Read MoreURGENT: President Trump is considering ending refugee resettlement
We’ve learned that President Trump is seriously considering shutting down the refugee resettlement program in Fiscal Year 2020 (beginning October 1, 2019). We need you, our community, to help us raise a strong and forceful response in opposition to this. By law, the president is authorized by Congress to determine the appropriate number of refugees to…
Read MoreWorld Refugee Day Recap And Some Good News!
On World Refugee Day we took 72,927 steps for refugees. Walking 1 mile alone doesn’t seem like much. In fact it’s only about 2,701 steps, but when we work together and combine our steps, we can cover a lot more ground! And we did, thanks to a group of 27 community members and Canopy staff who participated in UNHCR’s #stepwithrefugees on…
Read MoreWhy we need a Long Welcome
Meet Zawadi. She’s brilliant and brave. She arrived here in Northwest Arkansas 30 days ago, a single mom of 8, and she instantly stole our hearts. She radiates positivity, she’s fearless—and did we mention she’s incredibly smart? She’s soaked up English like a sponge and is already able to carry on basic conversations. She’s mastered…
Read MoreThe Receiving End of Welcome
A note from our director Last Saturday was one of the most special, remarkable days of my life. I left my house to go to what I was told was going to be a university function—and ended up walking into a crowd of singing, cheering Congolese, Kenyan and Rwandan women, who smothered me with hugs…
Read MoreBuilding a Community of Welcome
We were so excited to share our vision with y’all last week for this next chapter in Canopy’s story: To see refugees and our community thrive together. That’s what’s next for us on our ambitious mission. We don’t want to merely get our refugee families on their feet here —we want them to thrive here,…
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