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Blog → April 17, 2023

Invisible Barriers to Belonging: Their Story is Our Story Presents at the 2023 Idaho Conference on Refugees

TSOS Invisible Barriers to Integration

Their Story is Our Story (TSOS) was pleased to present at the 2023 Idaho Conference on Refugees held at Boise State University on February 22-23. In alignment with the conference theme Creating Connections, our TSOS team addressed three significant invisible barriers that we consistently encounter in our work and invited audience members to think about how local community members might leverage their inter- and intra- connections to help Forcibly Displaced Persons overcome invisible barriers so they might achieve an equal footing in society.

TSOS Invisible Barriers to Integration 1
Three of the invisible barriers that refugees face when attempting to integrate into a new community.

According to Mayor Lauren McLean, Boise is “a city committed to welcome” with goals emphasizing accessibility for language services, culturally appropriate care, expanded liaisons with police, diversity through community events, and access to books and media, especially in schools.

The conference hosted over 600 attendees who are dedicated to the cause of creating connected communities ranging from resettlement workers, college students and faculty, volunteers, K-12 educators, health care & social workers, counselors, employers, and New American professionals. Over the two days we found many opportunities to exchange best practices and collaborate with others who are doing expansive work in integrating newcomers.

Workshops
Workshop attendees

Overall, the conference reaffirmed to us that refugee stories and the work TSOS is engaged in is having an impact and we thank Boise State University and the Idaho Office for Refugees for putting on a meaningful two-day event.

Brandi Kilmer Director of Community Programs
From left to right, Brandi Kilmer (Director of Community Programs), Kristen Dayley (Executive Director), Arbay Mberwa (Changemaker President at Boise State University), and Hanna Suman (IRC Housing Specialist)

Review the Slides We Presented

Invisible Barriers to Integration (6.868 MB .pdf) Download

If you would like to help create welcome in Idaho or another location, consider volunteering with one of our partner organizations linked within our Community Programs near you.

What would you do if you had to leave everything behind?

By the end of 2024, more than 123.2 million people worldwide had been forcibly displaced from their homes due to war, persecution, or human rights abuses.

An increase of 7.2 million over 2023, that’s more than 19,619 people every day — roughly one person every 4.4 seconds.

They arrive in refugee camps and other countries, like the US, seeking the one thing they’ve lost: safety.

Fleeing political imprisonment, ethnic violence, religious persecution, gang threats, or war crimes, they come with what little they managed to carry:

Legal papers – if they’re lucky.

A single backpack.

Sometimes a child’s hand in theirs.

They also carry the weight of what they left behind: fractured families, homes they’ll never return to, professions they loved, friends and relatives they may never see again.

They carry loss most of us can’t imagine – but also the truth of what they’ve endured.

At TSOS, we believe stories are a form of justice. When someone shares their experience of forced displacement, they reclaim their voice. And when we amplify that voice – through film, photography, writing, and advocacy – the world listens. Hearts soften. Communities open. Policy begins to shift.

That shift matters. Because when neighbors understand instead of fear…

when lawmakers see people, not politics…

when a teacher knows what her student has survived…

Rebuilding life from the ashes becomes possible.

We’re fighting an uphill battle. In today’s political climate, refugee stories are often twisted or ignored. They’re reduced to statistics, portrayed as national threats, or used to score political points.

The truth – the human, nuanced truth – gets lost, and when it does, we lose compassion.

We are here to share their truth anyway.

At TSOS, we don’t answer to headlines or algorithms. We are guided by a simple conviction: every person deserves to be seen, heard, and welcomed.

Our work is powered by the people we meet — refugees and asylum seekers rebuilding after loss, allies offering sanctuary, and communities daring to extend belonging.

Your support helps us share their stories — and ensure they’re heard where they matter most.

“What ultimately persuaded the judge wasn’t a legal argument. It was her story.”

— Kristen Smith Dayley, Executive Director, TSOS

Will you help us keep telling the truth?

No donation is too small — and it only takes a minute of your time.

Why give monthly?

We value every gift, but recurring contributions allow us to plan ahead and invest more deeply in:

  • New refugee storytelling and advocacy projects
  • Resources to train and equip forcibly displaced people to share their own stories
  • Public education that challenges fear with empathy
  • Local efforts that help communities welcome and integrate newcomers

As our thank-you, monthly supporters receive fewer fundraising messages — and more stories of the impact they’re making possible.

You don’t have to be displaced to stand with those who are.

Can you give today — and help carry these stories forward?

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