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KAMA DC's Pride & Refuge Storytelling Night

Thursday, June 17, 20217:00 pm - 8:30 pm EDT
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KAMA DC is partnering with PRISM at AsylumWorks for a storytelling night featuring LGBTQ asylum seekers on the theme of pride and refuge.

This month, KAMA DC is honoring two international observances marked in June - Pride Month and World Refugee Day - by partnering with PRISM at AsylumWorks for our Pride & Refuge Storytelling Night on Thursday, June 17 at 7PM. Though these events seem worlds apart, the themes of taking pride in one’s self and identity and seeking safety and refuge in one’s family, friends, home, or foreign land are prevalent in both. We are so excited to hear from a special group of speakers who will reflect on what both of those themes have meant for them on their journey.

PRISM (Pride Refugee Immigrant Support Meet-Up) is a community group at AsylumWorks, an organization that provides holistic services to support asylum seekers and their families living in the Washington, D.C. region. PRISM is made up of asylum seekers and volunteers working to build an open and affirming peer community where LGBTQ+ asylum seekers feel comfortable just being themselves. To do this, PRISM hosts LGBTQ-focused activities, community-building events, and engages in advocacy initiatives that advance the interests of LGBTQ+ asylum seekers.

The event is free with a suggested donation of $5. All proceeds help provide trauma-informed social services, employment support, and community connections for asylum seekers in the D.C. area and beyond.

REGISTER HERE

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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