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READ OUR OFFICIAL STATEMENT ON THE U.S. FY2026 REFUGEE ADMISSIONS CAP AND PRIORITIZATION
SHARE YOUR EXPERIENCES WITH DISPLACEMENT, RESETTLEMENT, DEPORTATION, AND ICE #ANONYMOUSAMONGUS
Stories

United States - Utah

Hawa Shego
Hawa Shego  ·  Somalia

Just Me and Rock Climbing

Getting strength from nature, rock climbing, and a strong motherhood figure.
Photography25of58
Kyrylo Burlaka  ·  Ukraine

When the War Started, We Thought It Was Fake

How Can It Be Possible? We Live in the 21st Century
Oksana
Oksana  ·  Ukraine

I Don’t Understand How This is Possible

I don’t recognize my city. It’s like films from WWII.
Yuliia Pylypenko
Yuliia Pylypenko  ·  Ukraine

Keeping My Promise: How I Found Safety for My Family and Started Helping Others

Holding Onsm
Omaya  ·  Afghanistan

Everyone was Desperate

What it Took to Get Out of Afghanistan Alive
Faiz and Nathan
Faiz and Nathan  ·  Sudan

Everyone Needs a Friend

Sarah Ingabire
Sarah Ingabire  ·  Rwanda

A Refugee Shares Both the Hard and Good From Her Experience in Foster Care

Dhulfiqar Al Hamawendi
Dhulfiqar Al Hamawendi  ·  Iraq

You Will Get Far but You Need Help at First

Photography44of59
Fahreed Poya  ·  Afghanistan

A Little Help Goes a Long Way for Refugee Families

Abdu Wali Kakaie
Abdu Wali Kakaie  ·  Afghanistan

There is Freedom Here, but I Miss My Wife

Catholic Community Services Works to Reunite a Family Separated by War
Photography30of59
Abdifitah  ·  Somalia

I Would Like To Own My Own Business Again

Catholic Community Services helps Somali man with credentials and employment, after reuniting him with his wife.
Shurooq main picture
Shurooq Safaa Al Jewari  ·  Iraq

Being a Refugee Does Not Make Me Less

My aspirations are to become a surgeon, buy my parents their own house, and sell my art.
Kadija
Kadija and Idris  ·  Somalia

You Have to Be Able to Trust Yourself

" When we first landed in America, we found a taxi, but my family didn’t speak English. Everybody laughed when we tried to talk, we thought that no one cared about us anymore..."
IMG 2958
Emilia  ·  Honduras

Arrival: I Took Sanctuary

I Fear for my Daughter's Life and My Own
OUR LIVES BEFORE Leonard Bagalwa
Leonard  ·  Democratic Republic of the Congo

Our Lives Before: Born a Survivor

Forced to be a rebel then a spy, Leonard was protected by the pygmies
Goat Project
An East African Country

East African Refugee Goat Project of Utah

This video highlights some of the ways the goats are helping the three communities transition from their old lives in Africa to their new ones in America.
Dr Abdul Nasser Kaadan Cu Copy
Syria

Abdul Nasser

Dr. Abdul Nasser Kaadan, of Aleppo Syria, is a highly regarded physician and scholar. But his honors, credentials, and vital work could not keep him safe in his home country.
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?

Support Monthly Give Once
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