The Long Welcome

In 2019, Canopy set out to design a road map to help every refugee household in our community thrive. The Path to Thriving was developed with input from experts, community partners, refugee families, and literature on best practices.

The Path to Thriving plan below ensures refugee clients move from newcomers to fully integrated community members.


Basic Needs Met
  • Living in safe, affordable housing
  • Financially self-sufficient
  • Able to navigate essential systems with support

Stable And Connected
  • Access to reliable transportation
  • Connected to supportive peers
  • Access to treatment for acute physical and mental health needs
  • Adjusted to new family roles
  • Basic cultural competence

Ready To Advance
  • A part of community events
  • Communicate without interpretation
  • Access to education and training if desired
  • Access to preventative healthcare

Empowered To Thrive
  • Physically and mentally healthy
  • Connected socially through deep friendship
  • Financially secure with savings and assets
  • Fully employed
  • Confident in systems and culture

Across generations, all family members are full contributing members of our community. Canopy aims to provide all of our clients with full wrap-around integration support for 5 full years after arrival.

In order to fulfill our vision of refugees and the community thriving together, it is necessary to do more than just resettle— we need a Long Welcome. That’s what we are working towards. Our vision is to have the programs and the resources in place so that all of our refugee families can become full contributing members of our community within 5 years of arrival in the US.