In 1998, Colleen joined a committee at my church sponsoring a refugee family from Somalia. She writes, “We met the family of 10, a Mother with 9 children at the airport and took them to their new rental home. We had been collecting furniture for weeks so that their home was fully furnished before their arrival. That was quite a fete as you can imagine how much was needed for a family of 10! We, as a group were very proud of our accomplishments and I became very close to the family.

“That is when I found out that not all refugees coming into Rochester had churches sponsoring them.  I began meeting many other refugee families whose homes were sparingly furnished. One home I visited had no furniture at all. The lovely and most gracious mother took off her scarf, set it on the floor and invited me to “sit”. That was the point when my eyes were opened and I knew we could do better!” Join others from Bethlehem as we learn about the current challenges to settling refugees in our area.