Fairfax County, Virginia - Opportunity Neighborhoods
Communities from Arizona to Fairfax, from Warwickshire to New Anschpach, and Bogota to Cartegena have seen the positive effects of nurturing immigrant populations. Learning the best ways to integrate newcomers helps stimulate economies and create vibrant and competitive communities.
Through a successful model of building welcoming communities, Fairfax County, Virginia brings community-based organizations together to better meet the needs of vulnerable populations. Opportunity Neighborhoods (ON) provides a network of partners who identify gaps in services and then work with low-income residents together to prioritize their needs, and develop solutions with shared support from:
- Community members
- Faith communities
- Schools
- Businesses and
- County Agencies
By collaborating with partners to deliver needed resources for refugee and vulnerable youth along with their families. Opportunity Neighborhoods creates a strong infrastructure to welcome, support, and empower newcomers through sustainable integration.
Please visit Opportunity Neighborhoods for newcomer integration and community strengthening ideas.
Uniting for Ukraine: U.S. Sponsors Needed
Just as citizens in Europe and the U.K. have heroically supported displaced Ukrainians by opening up their homes or securing other housing, assisting with school enrollments, employment needs, and language learning, Americans now have the opportunity via the Welcome.us Sponsor Circles program to directly help newly arrived Ukrainians. The United States has committed to welcoming 100,000 Ukrainians temporarily for a period of two-years and the ability to apply for employment authorization in the U.S. as long as they have a U.S.-based sponsor to petition for them.
Inviting others to help write a story of success
I quickly realized that in order for my friend Jahan to re-establish her upended art career, she would need some help from a local artist. Enter Ann Marie Coolick, an artist from Arlington, Virginia.
Why celebrate World Refugee Day?
To me, the label “refugee” is a badge of honor. I invite you to honor and celebrate refugees and welcomers with me this month and to meet some of these heroes at TSOS's Virtual World Refugee Day event on 17 June.