People are often confused about us and ask what exactly does your nonprofit do?! It’s true, our services to our clients are many.  We find it easiest to think of Asha’s Refuge more of a family services type organization that helps to connect clients to those more cultural friendly organizations that offer a friendly atmosphere of wrap around services in our community.  Our services also include client advocacy, mentoring and a variety of classes necessary to increase the specific skills needed to reach goals a client has chosen for themselves.  Over the last month, this has been what our staff’s days have been like:

• We’ve had two children at LeBonheur who had surgeries, one a heart surgery, and Asha’s Refuge was there with their parents who are in a new country in need of support.  The local hospitals were super glad to also have our help with translation and advocacy on surgery day.
• We were with a mother who had colon cancer removed after a long surgery. Another mother has a neck mass that is being looked at the West Clinic and we are working to help her.
• We have provided transportation for about 40-50 people this month who were needing rides to their new job, the doctor, the grocery store or a class.
• Our team traded off for two days, around the clock, helping a pregnant mother with a baby that was in bit of distress.  The mother finally gave birth to a healthy baby boy.  Our team helped the mother with translation services, mentoring and partnered with a local hospital to provide care to this family in need.
• We went grocery shopping for 2 to 3 large families who were struggling to provide food for their children.
• We helped 3 elderly newcomers get the medical treatment that was necessary for them to stay out of a medical crisis situation.
• We assisted several preschoolers with their enrollment for the first time in American schools which included working through a lot of paperwork and immunization doctor appointments.
• We enrolled teens into an international High School that will help to educate them with excellence.
• Five Next Gen aged young adults have recently completed their High School diploma, Basic Computer, Financial Literacy, Drivers ed and Life Skills program and will have a ceremony October 5th to celebrate their success.
• We have helped to enroll six clients in college, two of which started this current college Fall Semester.
• We have held American life and English conversation classes for 20-30 adults.
• A group of preschoolers are learning English vocabulary, social skills, good manners and being prepared for Kindergarten in a program that exemplifies Jesus’s love and is designed just for them two days a week.
• We have helped over twenty people locate and apply for jobs with about 95% success at landing a new job.
• We have mentored several young moms and a dozen teenagers lifting them up to reach harder and higher to work towards achieving their goals.
• About 12-20 clients have recently received their permanent resident cards after completing a list of requirements outlined for them by USCIS. Asha’s helps clients understand and complete forms, helps with medical screenings and connects them to partnering legal teams.
• One client gained their US Naturalization just this week after our help studying with them for the US Government, Civics and History.  We are thankful for community partners and volunteers that help to make this a reality for a client that has worked hard to get to this day of celebration.

What do we do?  We push ourselves as hard as we can to help others in their time of need as we believe Jesus would do.  We want others to know they are not alone in a new place, they are invited in and welcomed, they are valued and most of all they are loved. Our mission is to see our clients achieve a successful resettlement which means they are thriving physically, emotionally, intellectually, socially and spiritually in their new home here in America.  Often our clients are in a sense, orphans without a home country to call their own.  When they go through the correct legal documentation processes to move far away to a new country in an effort to start their life anew, we want to embrace their US approved adoption full fold which means we will have open hearts and a warm “welcome home” for them.

Asha’s Refuge offers support and defends the rights of local under privilege refugees through community and client education thereby reducing any overall negative impact on the unprepared local government, city, business, school and/or neighborhood dealing with an influx of culturally diverse group of people. We believe all people should be given the opportunity to be encouraged and educated which therefore builds character, self-esteem, allows for jobs success, helps to reduce crime, keeps individuals self-sufficient (not dependent upon government welfare assistance programs) and overall offers hope to families which will lead generations forward on a victorious path of success.

We provide instruction in a caring, safe and healthy learning environment, responsive to each student, in collaboration with families and the community. Our clients are taught to embrace diversity, act responsibly and contribute to their community.  Asha’s Refuge is a local nonprofit that serves refugees and asylees in our community by providing a variety of family services and training to clients who need practical assistance to resettle successfully.  We provide a loving and safe environment that examples the love of Christ and develop relationships that open opportunities for us to share our love for Jesus to people who have not heard truth about Him.  All of our clients are in the US legally and have appropriate documents. We help provide classes for language and life skills, citizenship preparation, job skills, computer skills, ACT tutoring, as well as individual services such as assistance with medical appointments, enrolling in college, transportation to appointments, assistance in crisis situations, mentoring new mothers, and many other ways.

We are currently in need of regular committed funding to meet our rather low annual operational budget of $168,000 growing to $187,000.  With 3,000 churches in Memphis, perhaps each one would consider donating $55 to help us meet our annual budget need. We would also meet our budget if 260 people agreed to give $50 every month.  I like to break down funding and think of it these ways to show myself and others just how reachable this is when Gods people come together to help one another. With God all things are possible.  Our organization is not government funded but funded by donors who have like-minded hearts.  We very much need financial support to help us continue making the impact we are making in our community of need. It’s so simple to send us a one-time donation or a recurring donation through our PushPay link below.  Please, will you consider donating today?  Many of our clients have been neglected for too long.  We owe it them to sweep away the barriers to greater learning and support them as they forge their own future.

https://pushpay.com/pay/ashasrefuge

Have a gift in fundraising and developement?  We are currently looking for volunteers to serve with us.  Contact us at serve@ashasrefuge.org.