ecently, volunteers, leaders and families welcomed by First Place Swarthmore gathered in Fellowship Hall to celebrate and give thanks, delighting in a delicious Afghan meal prepared by one among our refugee families who is working to start her own business. Nearly six years ago the work began to bring this ministry to life, providing transitional housing and daily support to refugee families newly arrived in the United States. During their stays with us, from a couple of weeks to a couple of months, each family experienced an outpouring of care including help with transportation, ESL, groceries, medical visits, employment support, and cultural adjustment.

The stories we heard while we gathered were abundant— of arriving late in the evening to a new place, of airport pickups, of hours around the kitchen table teaching, advising, learning, listening, and connecting. Repeatedly, we heard of the generosity and welcome of Swarthmore, and how meaningful this was arriving into a new country. Mostafa shared with the group what this welcome meant to his family, saying, “For us, Swarthmore was not just the shopping, learning language, finding jobs, it was peace of mind. We had somewhere to stay and to call home…When you have the peace of mind and somewhere to call home, you can take other things one at a time. We felt like we had a home, and we had people helping us, now we can take the next steps. For us, the peace of mind was the most important part when someone asks me what First Place Swarthmore gave to us.”