This Manhattan adult learning center is seeing a surge in African asylum seekers

Denver Public Schools’ Community Hubs provide wide-ranging support for students and their families, from language classes and GED programs for parents learning English to food pantries, financial education courses, and mobile medical appointments. The hubs have served more than 4,000 families since launching in 2022, with roughly 600 migrant families being served this year.

The Manhattan Afghan Resettlement Team (MART) helps Afghan refugees escape Taliban oppression and build new lives in the U.S. MART helps to connect refugees with the local Islamic Center for meetings about adjusting to life in the U.S. and language courses, as well as help getting a Social Security card, a job and enrolling their children in school. To date, over 100 refugees have been successfully resettled.

Lincoln Literacy addresses language barriers for immigrants and refugees through a volunteer-based ESL program that offers over 100 classes across nine locations in Lincoln, Nebraska. The organization's model includes community classes, workplace partnerships where employers pay for on-site instruction during work hours and a student-centered curriculum that adapts to real-world communication needs. The group has been operating since 1975.

The basketball academy in Queens teaches basketball and English language skills to Spanish-speaking immigrant children. The academy helps youth navigate culture shock, bullying and the lack of community they may feel when they first arrive in the country, while ensuring they still maintain a sense of their parents’ language and culture.

The Fresno Center provides immigration services and culturally relevant mental health care to members of the Southeast Asian community. The Center provides therapy in native languages and works to destigmitize mental health in an effort to heal decades of generational trauma.

The Town’s Equity Task Force works to advise the town on equity and inclusion strategies, specifically for the Latino population in the community. The task force presented seven recommendations to the Jackson Town Council in December, which were accepted, including recommendations like translating town signs into Spanish. Similarly, several local nonprofits have stepped up to serve Latino community members from literacy to food aid.

A group of volunteers came together to feed young people, mostly immigrants, living on the streets. Around 40 residents of Egia began cooking hot meals to serve to people in a local community square. Two volunteers are responsible for cooking each day and many more help distribute the food. Local businesses, like a bakery, donate food and help raise funds to sustain the program, which is largely paid for by the residents themselves. The program started small, with just a few residents bringing hot meals to the square to feed a few people, and has since scaled up.

People living in the Kara Tepe refugee camp find creative ways to withstand the oftentimes inhumane conditions. To supplement insufficient food rations, volunteers bake and distribute up to 400 pieces of bread a day while others fish to provide their own food. The NGO Yoga & Sport for Refugees organizes swimming, running, and team sports to provide mental health outlets. Residents also organize non-formal educational activities because no formal schooling is provided for camp residents. The Instagram account Now You See Me Moria publishes photos taken by camp residents to raise awareness of these issues.

The Swedish organization Forum Skill works to address labor market exclusion for immigrants and people with disabilities and immigrants, providing workplace-based Swedish language training programs and hands-on work experience outside of a traditional classroom that helps prepare participants to be successful in the workplace.

In Tucson, Arizona, a former Benedictine monastery is providing temporary shelter to asylum seekers. The space was temporarily donated to Casa Alitas, a nonprofit, following a sharp increase in asylum-seeker in the past year. The nonprofit provides the individuals and families staying there with shelter, food, clothing, and any other care they may need while they prepare for the next part of their trip.