About Welcoming America
Welcoming America works to address the root causes of othering and exclusion to build a stronger and more cohesive United States for all, including immigrants. Welcoming America facilitates a network of local government and non-profit leaders in 500 communities worldwide and equips them with tools, resources, training, and networking opportunities to break down the barriers immigrants face and make their communities more welcoming.
What type of work will this grant enable?
The WES Mariam Assefa Fund is supporting Welcoming America’s Resilient Rapid Response Initiative. The grant will assist the non-profits and local governments in Welcoming America’s member network to aid their response to COVID-19 and protect and support immigrant communities. Welcoming America is offering language access coaching that teaches its members how to meet interpretation and translation needs. Language experts are working with members to focus on strategies that effectively communicate COVID-19 information to immigrant communities. Welcoming America’s Resilient Rapid Response Initiative enables its members to discuss key issues, share what they’re learning, and generate solutions.
Why is this work important?
An inclusive response that lifts up all communities and mitigates xenophobia and tension is critical following the upheaval of COVID-19. It’s important to acknowledge the contributions of immigrants by ensuring that all Americans—including immigrants—are part of COVID-19 solutions. Welcoming America has heard from its network members that non-English–speaking immigrant communities lag behind others in receiving critical communications about health and financial resources related to COVID-19. To help ensure these communities’ health, safety, and well-being, Welcoming America is addressing these gaps so that information reaches immigrant communities in a timely manner.
