Alex Kloehn - Lutheran Family Services Rocky Mountains

Change-making looks different for every person. It takes the work of an entire community to welcome our refugee friends; from the people donating furniture and setting up apartments to those who meet them at the airport and those walk alongside the refugees helping them adapt to their new environment during those crucial first few months. Alex, and all those working at Lutheran Family Services Rocky Mountains, remind us that the refugees they serve are people who just want a fresh start in life. They want the chance to watch their children grow up in safety. They desire to work and provide for their families. They have dreams and goals just as we do. However, we haven't been forced to flee for our lives as they have. I'm so thankful LFSRM exists to give these refugees a welcoming smile, cultural guidance, and a safe home to start their lives over in. 

Alex's quote:    "The plain fact is that the planet does not need more successful people, but it does desperately need more peacemakers, healers, restorers, storytellers and lovers of every kind." by David W. Or

References:

LFSRM - https://www.lfsrm.org/programs-and-services/refugees/greeleyfort-morgan/

LIRS - https://www.lirs.org/

UNHCR Figures at a glance - https://www.unhcr.org/figures-at-a-glance.html

World Refugee Day - https://www.un.org/en/observances/refugee-day

Vetting Process - https://www.rescue.org/article/how-us-refugee-vetting-and-resettlement-process-really-works

The nine volags are:
1. Church World Service (CWS) (religious)

2. Episcopal Migration Ministries (EMM) (religious)

3. Ethiopian Community Development Council (ECDC)

4. Hebrew Immigrant Aid Society (HIAS) (religious)

5. International Rescue Committee (IRC)

6. Lutheran Immigration and Refugee Services (LIRS) (religious)

7. U.S. Committee for Refugees and Immigrants (USCRI)

8. United States Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB) (religious)

9. World Relief Corporation (WR) (religious)