Our Impact

A nationwide movement of Welcomers

In just three short years, Americans have achieved astonishing results when given the chance to act on their compassion, generosity, and desire to make a difference in their communities and the lives of others. More than 2 million people across all 50 states and over 12,000 zip codes have served as private community sponsors for refugee newcomers in need of safety. Collectively, they have extended safety, security, and freedom to over 780,000 refugee newcomers, dedicating an incredible $7 billion of their own time and money to do it.

As Welcome.US enters its fourth full year, we also enter a new chapter in our national policies and programs. We acknowledge the extraordinary challenges of our time—growing conflict around the world, the climate crisis creating mass migration, economic instability, and division. But we remain committed to bringing people together and fulfilling a critical need for our country, communities, and those seeking safety.

Strengthening our American communities

Sponsorship goes beyond changing the lives of newcomers. It is strengthening communities and transcending divides. Welcomers represent every part of our great American tapestry: multi-generational and first-generation Americans, red and blue state Americans, in cities and small-towns. We are reminded of what we have in common: love of country, freedom, self-determination, and the belief that opportunity should belong to all who strive for it.

The impact reaches beyond newcomers and Welcomers to revitalize communities and strengthen our nation. The Congressional Budget Office estimates that the recent influx of newcomer talent will contribute nearly $9 trillion to our economy over the next decade.

Across the country, we are seeing the impact of Welcoming:

In Unity, Wisconsin, farmers Bryce and Maxine welcomed the Hnatiuks to their town of 400. There, the local librarian does double duty as the English teacher and Ukrainian borscht is now served with Wisconsin cheddar.

In Miami, sponsor Marie fled Haiti as a young woman and then welcomed Berlange, a Haitian newcomer whose story mirrored her own. Mariah, a veteran who served in Afghanistan, welcomed Latifah, an Afghan interpreter, who now raises her two daughters as Texans.

In Oregon, Amy, who sponsored a Colombian family with her church group, said:

A community-driven movement

Welcoming also is now a movement of participation that reaches across every sector and community. International service organizations like Lions Clubs International partnered on a program to help support Afghans, while Rotary International jumped into action following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. Leading conveners like the Clinton Global Initiative, Concordia, and the Milken Institute have highlighted and helped further sponsorship innovations, and sponsorship of refugee newcomers was named as one of the top service activities for Americans two years running in the New York Times.

Our Welcome Fund network, led by diaspora- and refugee-led organizations, veterans groups, and diverse faith groups, has mobilized more than 40,000 volunteers to support over 192,000 newcomers resettling in their communities. We’ve provided over 250 grants to grassroots organizations in just three years, forming a welcoming network that stretches across 40 states.

Our innovative CEO Council, a coalition of more than 40 of our nation’s largest corporations, has continued its commitment to welcoming by leveraging its unique expertise and innovation. The council helped Welcome.US transform systems to scale support for sponsors and newcomers, and reach over 100 million Americans with the call to be a Welcomer.

The collective result is a five-fold increase in what the government could do alone to welcome newcomers legally, safely, and with the resettlement and integration support needed for their new communities.

Looking forward

At Welcome.US, our mission is to unleash America’s capacity and commitment to welcoming. By engaging Americans with the opportunity to change someone’s life—a call to service Americans have always answered—we’ve found a willingness to welcome more, and even the keys to our own national healing in divided times. It’s a story of the transformative power of welcoming that has resonated with American communities of every stripe.

The year ahead will undoubtedly bring new challenges. We approach them with deep faith in our American communities and their desire for, and the necessity of, our work together.

Together, we will support and preserve the community we’ve built and affirm our commitment to reuniting our nation through our shared values of compassion, opportunity, and freedom. We are, as ever, a nation of welcome.