Nonprofit "New Vecinos" program helping migrants in Chicago move in to permanent homes

The International Institute of Minnesota’s refugee resettlement program finds and prepares apartments for refugee families moving to the state. Through a combination of donations and buying new or used items, the organization stocks the home with all of the essentials, groceries, and furniture. And volunteers help set it all up.

A closed school was converted into a shelter for some of the nearly 200 migrants arriving in Chicago. In tandem, local residents and faith-based groups started the Chicago 4 All initiative to help provide them with the necessary resources to settle in.

Uniting for Ukraine allows U.S. citizens to sponsor Ukranian refugees, welcoming them to the U.S. to escape the war and Russian invasion of their home country. Over two years, the program has helped resettle 187,000 Ukrainians.

The Heberthausen Asylum Support Group helps incoming migrants and refugees find housing, jobs and learn the German language to integrate with society and work towards citizenship.

The Home for the Needy Foundation’s camp offers accommodations and support for people who are displaced in Nigeria due to terrorism. Along with housing, clothes, food, healthcare, and general support, those staying at the camp receive help and encouragement to continue their education, apply for college, or learn a trade.

Detroit Public Schools is tackling chronic absenteeism by addressing the underlying reasons students are absent. Attendance agents work with families to address their needs and connect them to necessary resources like food, transportation, and school supplies.

Catholic Charities helps immigrants and refugees access housing and transition to life in a new country. Housing is the first step in the resettlement process, but Catholic Charities also helps immigrants find jobs, get their children in school and integrate into the community. In 2007, Fort Wayne welcomed 3,500 Burmese refugees. By 2016 the number had grown to more than 6,000 and counting.

In the wake of Russia's invasion of Ukraine, individual citizens stepped up in countries around the world to offer shelter to refugees, often through local volunteering programs that offer stipends to those who sign up. These grassroots efforts helped Aya Aslanova, a 47-year-old Ukrainian grandmother, find stable housing in Switzerland, while in Lithuania, citizens have offered up more than 10,000 places to stay for migrants fleeing Ukraine.

The Community Health Center of Southeast Kansas and its subsidiary Building Health act as safety nets for uninsured people experiencing homelessness by expanding the definition of healthcare to also include housing, serving about 85,000 people a year. By providing wraparound care and services from help finding housing to legal assistance and education, the groups’ combined efforts helped shrink the rate of uninsured, unhoused people from 16% in 2020 to about 12% now.

Frustrated by the lack of childcare funding and access, one woman created a documentary showcasing the issue. It received widespread attention throughout the state, leading to a state representative sponsoring a $7 million bill to increase childcare funding and provider wages and to expand access to subsidies for middle-income families. It also led the governor to create the Alaska Child Care Task Force to oversee state licensing regulations to make the process of becoming a licensed childcare provider and opening a facility more accessible.