Dear Friend,
As we see the news about the war and refugee crisis in Ukraine, we are grateful to you for your past generosity to Welcoming the Stranger. We are asking for your financial support to help us address the critical needs of refugees and immigrants in our community by providing free educational programs to them here and now. We have worked with thousands of immigrants and refugees for twenty-three years. We have seen their pain and willingness to work hard to have a stable life, and we understand their needs.
Imagine having to leave your home because of a devastating war, gang threats or political or economic crises. Rather than living your life as planned, you are forced to travel long distances, often leaving family behind, to come to a strange country where you hope to start a new life. The door to your former country slams shut. Even if you wanted to, you cannot return. Now you must rapidly find a place to live, work, and study a new language so that you can be accepted or even understood. All of this while your new country is facing a global crisis and its own economic and social issues. There is a fear in you that the stranger, the immigrant, may be perceived as the “other”. You seek the kind of support, education and community that Welcoming the Stranger provides.
Students and Teachers - Winter 2022 Zoom classes
Welcoming the Stranger was founded based on a simple idea: that it is morally right to offer compassionate and caring assistance to immigrants and refugees in need.
We are writing to you today with a grateful heart to thank you for your past support, and to ask for your continued help. During this season of hope, renewal and new growth, will you consider making a gift that will enable us to continue our work? It has never been more important.
With the help of dedicated volunteers, WTS was able to provide 167 classes, including ESL, computer literacy and citizenship preparation, for 275 students during the past year. This year, we plan to offer 40 classes and serve 130 students each term. Despite the challenges of online instruction, we continue to serve more students every year.
New American Family Story
With donations from people like you, we have been able to help many families rebuild their lives and pursue their American Dream. Recep and Sule are two students who are creating a better life.
Recep and Sule are a young couple who, with their two young children, are seeking refugee status in the U.S. They left Turkey under the current regime, where an effort to put religion at the center of national life has limited access to secular education. Their institution was closed, family members were imprisoned, and Recep and Sule were forced to leave their country. Their family arrived in Bucks County in November of 2019, shortly before the pandemic changed everyone’s lives. They will not be able to return to Turkey to visit family or friends, unless the political situation changes.
Sule was a kindergarten teacher in Turkey. She began classes with Welcoming the Stranger in the spring of 2021. It has taken two years and four months for her to receive her social security number and EAD (Employment Authorization Document) – what we commonly call a “work permit.” That should speed her efforts to become a classroom aide and/or a substitute teacher in the local school district where their two young children are enrolled in first and third grades. Eventually, Sule hopes to become a teacher with her own classroom.
Recep decided to pivot and pursue a career in software development. He began English classes with Welcoming the Stranger in the summer of 2021 and is continuing his fourth term this spring. In August, he began a grueling six-month program where he earned a Certificate in Front-End Software Development. All of the coursework was in English. While pursuing this certificate, he delivered food to fulfill restaurant take-out orders to support his family.
Please help us to help other families like Recep and Sule to achieve a better life. Your contribution is a seed that will help immigrants and refugees to grow a better future for themselves and our community.
If your employer has a matching charitable donation program, please include us so they can match your gift.
Best wishes to you and yours, and thank you in advance for your support.
Here is how you can make a Donation
MAIL A CHECK: Payable to Welcoming the Stranger
WTS Spring 2022 Appeal, P.O, Box 1156, Langhorne PA 19047
If you need assistance, please call us at (215)702-3445
Thank you for supporting the Welcoming the Stranger family!