The State Department recently highlighted the success of Welcome Corps after one year since its inception.

Under Welcome Corps,  Americans form sponsor groups to help refugees build new lives in the United States. This involves greeting refugees at the airport, securing and preparing initial housing, enrolling children in school, helping adults secure jobs, and helping them settle into their new communities.

A consortium of nonprofit organizations specializing in resettling refugees has partnered with the Department to implement the program and support sponsors.

The consortium, led by the Community Sponsorship Hub, includes Church World Service, the International Rescue Committee, International Refugee Assistance Project (IRAP), Integrated Refugee & Immigrant Services (IRIS), HIAS, and Welcome.US.

Beyond the consortium, dozens of community organizations have signed up to serve as private sponsor organizations (PSOs), providing technical expertise and support to sponsor groups as they carry out core services for refugees once they arrive in the United States. 

In the year since the State Department launched Welcome Corps, more than 15,000 American sponsors have applied to receive more than 7,000 refugees through Welcome Corps, exceeding the Department’s first year mobilization goal. 

“Included in that milestone are more than 100 private sponsor groups from 32 states that have signed up to be matched with refugees they did not know from around the world. Under the U.S. Refugee Admissions Program, these refugees, from around the world, were already being considered for U.S. resettlement,” the State Department noted.

Welcome Corps is one of the ways the State Department is expanding domestic resettlement capacity and reaching the Administration’s target of admitting up to 125,000 refugees in fiscal year 2024. 

Baltimore, Maryland-based Lutheran Immigration and Refugee Service on Jan. 17 said that it was changing its name to Global Refuge.

The rebrand to Global Refuge “marks a new phase for the nonprofit as it seeks to further grow its service impact and build a bigger table of supporters at a time when more than 114 million people have been forcibly displaced from their homes by escalating violence, persecution, and climate disaster, according to the United Nations,” the group said.

Accompanying the launch of the Global Refuge brand is a new website that enhances user experience and leans into rich, human-centered storytelling. The organization’s logo, inspired by the Statue of Liberty’s torch, has undergone a modernization, taking a circular form in keeping with its “global” theme, serving as a timeless reminder that immigration is an integral part of the American Dream, it said.

“We are thrilled to embark on an exciting new chapter rooted in our profound purpose, rich history, and enduring commitment to walking faithfully alongside newcomers at every stage in their journey,” said Krish O’Mara Vignarajah, President and CEO of Global Refuge.

“The word ‘Global’ not only describes the diverse backgrounds of the children and families we serve, but also conveys the scale of our vision to grow our humanitarian leadership as a beacon of hope and welcome,” she said. “‘Refuge’ is inspired by our Lutheran heritage and conveys a meaning of shelter that extends across all people, faiths, and denominations, just as our work does. At its core, our new name speaks to the place we are creating for immigrants, refugees, and asylum seekers in need, the world over.”