MAR 2 2022
Welcome to 2022, Canopy community. Last August, Kabul fell to the Taliban and the U.S. launched Operation Allies Welcome to evacuate and resettle vulnerable Afghans, many of whom worked alongside the US troops. At that time, Canopy stepped forward and said we would welcome 50 Afghan refugees in the coming months: the same number of refugees Canopy regularly resettles in one year.
The community rallied around Canopy in support of this effort.
Governor Hutchinson put his support behind resettlement in Arkansas. Local businesses to multi-national corporations pledged financial support, as did community foundations. 262 individuals gave financial contributions. Over 300 people trained as Co-Sponsors and made a six month commitment to help a family navigate their new home. Teams came together and furnished 47 homes, from small apartments for singles to a four bedroom house for a family of 11. Canopy received hundreds of donated Welcome Kits full of home furnishing items. Dozens of people signed up as transportation volunteers and to have a hot meal ready and waiting when a family arrived from the airport.
We also saw neighbors open their homes to host new arrivals while Canopy worked tirelessly along with our property management partners to lease apartments. Faith communities including the Fayetteville and Bentonville Islamic Centers, Jesus Christ Church of Latter Day Saints through JustServe, Temple Shalom, Spirit of Peace, New Heights Church, First Presbyterian Church of Siloam Springs, Eureka Unitarian Universalist Fellowship, First United Methodist Bella Vista, All Saints Episcopal Church, First Presbyterian Church Bentonville, and Central United Methodist all mobilized their membership into action through their community service initiatives. Immigration attorneys volunteered pro-bono services to navigate the complex immigration applications Afghan refugees are required to file. Clinicians and educators participated in training to prepare for more refugee patients and students across the community.
Buoyed by the outpouring of support from the community, Canopy expanded our capacity to resettle even more Afghans in need.
In the four month time period from mid-October 2021 to mid-February 2022, Canopy resettled 159 people: 136 Afghans and 23 refugees from Syria, the Democratic Republic of Congo, and Rwanda. This is almost as many people in 4 months as the previous 4 years of Canopy’s resettlement combined.
Canopy staff worked many 12 hour days and many weekends to meet newcomers arriving at Northwest Arkansas Regional Airport six days a week. Our staff has grown, and Canopy now has 5 colleagues originally from Afghanistan on our team who can support clients in Dari and Pashto language and advise on culturally competent service design. We are so proud of the Canopy team and the greater Northwest Arkansas community who – along with hundreds of communities nationwide – took part in the resettlement of 76,000 Afghans during this humanitarian disaster. The U.S. has not participated in a resettlement effort of this scale since the end of the Vietnam War.
The Year Ahead
While the United States focused on responding to the humanitarian crisis in Afghanistan, rebuilding the U.S.’s international resettlement infrastructure slowly resumed after both being systematically dismantled during the previous administration and a long pause due to the pandemic. In consultation with Arkansas’s State Refugee Coordinator, Canopy is approved to resettle an additional 117 refugees this year. Whether or not we receive this many families remains to be seen. While more families may be assigned later in the year, at this writing Canopy has 17 families of 73 people in our “pipeline”, or those assigned to travel to Northwest Arkansas. Many are the relatives of refugees resettled by Canopy in years past. Some of these families have been waiting to travel since 2016. Due to the long wait, many have expired medical exams which are only valid for two years and must restart the process.
To prepare to welcome these new families, Canopy has goals to:
1. Train 25 cosponsor teams ready to be matched with a family as soon as travel is scheduled
2. Identify 6 three or four bedroom homes available in July, August and September
3. Recruit 40 mentors for our after school program
For the families who have recently arrived, most are completing a series of requirements that must be completed in the first 90 days. They have started school, attended a health screening and received a flood of information in cultural orientation sessions. With support from Canopy’s employment team and a diverse network of employer partners, 64% of households already have an adult employed. Now, Canopy will ensure these families and individuals are engaged in the Long Welcome. Canopy will conduct community needs assessments to design programming specifically tailored to the needs of our newest arrivals and to ensure that Canopy is supporting not only the families we serve, but the incredible community partners who welcome refugees such as schools, clinics and employers in the years ahead.
Thank you to Foundation & Corporate Sponsors who support Canopy:
Foundations:
Arkansas Community Foundation
Excellerate Foundation
Legacy Collective
Walmart Foundation
Corporate Sponsors:
Garver, LLC
Harps
Humana Capital Partners
Kitestring Technical Services
Mint Dental
Northstar Academy
Pathway Services Inc.
Specialized Realty Group
Responses