A world where all refugees and asylum-seekers find safety and live with dignity.

Goal One: Provide direct support for at least 20 asylum-seekers in the Birmingham area and partner with the Inspiritus Refugee Resettlement agency to support Afghan refugees who settle in Birmingham

Goal Two: Sponsor at least four community-wide educational programs per year focused on the current global and local migration crisis including a program celebrating World Refugee Day.

Goal Three: Advocate for policies that address the root causes of the refugee crisis, and that increase U.S. support for refugees through outreach to legislative officials and use of social media.

The board authorized $1000 to provide consultation to the President and board on fundraising and $1000 to provide consultation to the President and board on financial management processes

Although the organization has been receiving increased numbers of referrals from asylum-seekers needing assistance, we have been challenged by the COVID pandemic in our ability to provide the types of volunteer support we provided prior to the pandemic. We developed a COVID 19 safety policy in order to protect our volunteers and the asylum-seekers and refugees we serve (our "Partners"). This policy stipulates that Volunteers and Partners should not meet indoors or travel together in automobiles unless both Partners and Volunteers have been vaccinated against COVID. Partners and Volunteers have found creative ways to adapt to the pandemic. For example, instead of meeting face-to-face to practice English, Partners and Volunteers now use "WhatsApp" for video phone conversations. All of our educational programs and board meetings are now provided using the Zoom platform. We conducted a "hybrid" volunteer orientation program in August which was in-person for those prospective volunteers who had been vaccinated against COVID, but was also recorded on Zoom for those who were not comfortable meeting in-person. The zoom recording is now on our website for new volunteers.