New community-based refugee resettlement approach successful so far in Bend

Traditionally, refugees from around the world who are accepted into the United States receive aid from one of a handful of refugee resettlement agencies. But a new approach is aimed at helping create more capacity to better support refugees in American communities and to help more of them escape violence and persecution in their countries of origin. Last year, Amy Kasari, a pastor at the Antioch Church in Bend, heard a radio story about how local sponsor groups were needed to welcome families into specific communities for a program called Welcome Corps. She said she immediately went to work putting together a local team of volunteers at her church.

It took about a year of preparation, but earlier this year, she and other members of the sponsor group welcomed Maria del Carmen Chaparro, her husband and two of her three adult children, who escaped violence in Colombia. Kasari and del Carmen Chaparro join us to talk about the process of preparing for and settling into a new community. Una Bilic also joins us to share more about how this new approach is working around the country and what she sees as the impact of Welcome Corps now and in the future.

Note: The following transcript was created by a computer and edited by a volunteer.

Dave Miller: From the Gert Boyle Studio at OPB, this is Think Out Loud. I’m Dave Miller. For more than 40 years, the U.S. has brought in refugees from around the world through a handful of resettlement agencies. But now there’s a new way. It is a state department program called Welcome Corps. It’s a community-based program where teams of people can band together to sponsor families and ease their transition into American life. That’s how Maria del Carmen Chaparro and her husband and two of their three adult children arrived in Bend in December after escaping violence in their native Colombia. They were sponsored by a group of Oregonians who came together through the Antioch Church in Bend. Maria joins us now with the help of an interpreter, along with Amy Kasari. She is the pastor of hospitality and justice at Antioch Church and one of the lead sponsors of this local welcome core group. It’s good to have both of you on.

Amy Kasari: Great to be here. Happy to share our story.

Miller: Maria, how are you doing today?

Maria del Carmen Chaparro: Good morning to everyone. I’m doing very well, thanks to God. And more than doing well, I am feeling very blessed.

Miller: I understand that you, along with your family, have been dealing with threats of violence for many years. How many times have you moved in just the last 10 years?

Del Carmen Chaparro: Four times.

Miller: You eventually ended up fleeing Colombia and you were able to get to Ecuador. Did you feel safe there?

Del Carmen Chaparro: I did not feel safe there because the armed groups followed me all the way to the border.

Miller: When did you decide that you would try to get to the United States?

Del Carmen Chaparro: I first made the decision on April 8th of 2023. I decided to leave the country and go as far away as I could. My original plan was to go to the U.S. border and ask for asylum there. But the tickets were actually stolen from me online. And so I had to get out of Colombia and from there, I just decided to travel to Ecuador.

Miller: And then when you were there, how did you get to the U.S.? I mean, I’m curious what kinds of paperwork or interviews you had to go through in order to get refugee status.

Del Carmen Chaparro: At first, we didn’t even know what was happening with our case. When we arrived, we got help from an organization called HIAS. And it’s an organization that helps migrants and their process for getting asylum. And so we had to go through a long process of interviews with them. We didn’t really know what we were doing at that time.

First, we had to be allowed into the country. And so to get refugee status in Ecuador, we had to go through an organization called [?] and then we had to go through a process of very intense police interrogations. They had to confirm everything that we were saying was actually factual. And so once they could prove that everything that we were saying was real, then we were sent to an organization called IOM, which is an international organization that helps immigrants. We had another series of interviews and questions, two other interviews after that and then we had to travel to Quito and there we met with immigration agents from the United States. And that’s how we found out that the U.S. would be the country that would be sponsoring us.

Miller: Amy Kasari, this is where you come in. I understand that you first heard about the Welcome Corps program through an NPR story, through a radio story more than a year ago. What went through your mind when you heard about this new program that lets everyday people sponsor refugees?

Kasari: Oh, yeah, I was so excited and it is pretty funny to me that here we are talking on OPB, when just over a year ago, I heard about the Welcome Corps on an NPR story, just weeks after it had rolled out and I thought about it for about three seconds and knew that it was something my church would love to do. It’s where our heart is, for the refugee, for the immigrant, for those on the margins. So I just knew it was going to be an amazing opportunity for us in Bend, Oregon, with a very, very, very small population of immigrants. I was just super excited at the opportunity to do something that I didn’t think we would ever see in Central Oregon; refugee resettlement, it’s amazing.

Miller: Well, I mean, what is it about this particular act that you hoped to do, that you felt fit so squarely in your conception of your faith?

Kasari: Yeah, that’s a great question. I wouldn’t say it was that this particular act encompasses the work we’re motivated to do because of our faith, but it certainly fits in the spectrum. We work as a church in our community helping folks who are dealing with brokenness in their lives. We expand out beyond that into creation care and conservation and then beyond that into global strife or issues. So, caring for folks who are fleeing violence, it’s right in that space. And again, before Welcome Corps, this was not something that a group in Bend, Oregon could ever be a part of. Most refugee resettlements happen in bigger cities. So it was just something that we could talk about or read about or hear about, but it wasn’t something we could actually be involved in.

Miller: How did you go about putting a group together for this sponsor group? It’s not that the church itself is sponsoring people as I understand this. It’s a collection of individuals. So how did you go about assembling that group?

Kasari: Yeah, so Welcome Corps does a pretty fantastic job of setting you up for success and they had some great recommendations of how to go about pulling different folks together, what kind of job experience to look for, what kind of skills to look for. So I did my best to pray and be mindful of who I should talk to. And again, my church was excited and on board. So it wasn’t a difficult thing for me to find a handful of folks who were willing to start the process. I looked, I tried to build our team with a few folks who were retired, some who were working in housing, real estate, some who had more business experience, tried to have some people with younger kids, some people with older kids, just not knowing what kind of family we would be welcoming. I tried to have as diverse a group, age-wise and experience-wise, as I could. And that group started as five individuals or families. And by the time Maria and her family were here, we were up to almost 40 people who were eager to jump in and do whatever they could to help.

Miller: Because you had no idea what family situation or what part of the world the refugees would be coming from?

Kasari: That’s correct. At the very start when we first filled out our paperwork and registered as a private sponsored group, the Welcome Corps told us that we could expect anywhere from one to four people. We had said our limit was a family of four. So they said it would be anywhere from one to four people. And they told us most likely this individual family would be coming from Sub-Saharan Africa. So they gave us a list of the languages we might want to prepare and find resources for. And we just thought, OK, here we go. We’re in Bend, Oregon. There are no people in Central Oregon that I’m aware of who speak many global languages. So we were nervous about that, but just kept taking the steps forward and hoped and prayed that we’d be able to figure it out.

We made it clear to the Welcome Corps folks in all of our paperwork that the only languages we felt we could comfortably cover were Spanish and French, and they just kept coming back acknowledging that, but telling us to prepare for most likely Sub-Saharan Africa. So when we finally, in the fall, got word that our family was coming from Colombia, we all breathed a very big sigh of relief. We could do Spanish. That was OK.

Miller: That the transition to welcome would be easier.

Maria, what do you remember about your arrival in Bend?

Del Carmen Chaparro: First of all, I just remember the love and the peace that people showed to us. It was like being born again. I just looked at the whole team and I gave thanks to God for this new family. It was really just like being reborn.

Miller: Amy, what do you remember about that meeting?

Kasari: Oh, it’s a great memory. We didn’t want to overwhelm the family with too many people. So we sort of had to debate who got to go to the airport because everyone was so excited to do that. I think we had maybe eight people. We knew very little about the family. We knew their names. We had seen their photos, but we didn’t know if they were Christians or had any faith at all or what kinds of… We just didn’t have very many expectations. And the Welcome Corps was very clear that of course, we needed to respect that and not jump out of the gun, to jump out of the gate, telling the family that we were from a church or that we were Christians. We didn’t want them to be uncomfortable, just in case.

So we were very cautious and we waited and waited and waited and they were the last people to get off the plane and they immediately started telling us that we were their angels and thanking God that we were there. And we all just kind of looked at each other and thought, OK., I guess it’s OK if we tell them we’re from a church and that we’ve been praying for them. So it was just this beautiful spiritual connection and they were speaking Spanish and we were speaking English. But somehow we all understood what was going on. I felt such joy that we’d finally met them and they were finally here and we could finally start to get to know them and connect.

Miller: Maria, it’s now been about four months since you arrived in Oregon. Do you feel settled here now? I mean, does this feel like home?

Del Carmen Chaparro: Yes, I feel at home here very much. So I’m really happy because we were able to find places where we can all work. For example, I work in a hospital. My husband works in a cleaning agency. My son works in a call center and my daughter works with the Latin community. And so knowing that we all have business to do and stable work, that’s really what’s changed our lives.

Miller: Maria, how were you all able to find jobs so quickly?

Del Carmen Chaparro: I would like to say that it’s because of Amy’s team and her diligence. They really were able to process our documents quickly. They partnered with us, helped us every step of the way. I would like to give an immense thank you to Amy and her team. They really moved mountains and they’re still really focused on us. So that was what allowed us to get work so quickly.

Miller: Amy, I mean, obviously, being there for that tearful, joyous moment at the airport is just the beginning. What do members of your team do in the weeks or months that follow to actually make the welcome, in the name of this organization, this program, to make that a reality?

Kasari: Yeah. Well, remember when I said we started as a team of five and grew quickly to a team of almost 40, because there was a lot to do and everyone wanted to help. The first and the hardest part of welcoming a family is to find them housing, which we were able to do through the generosity of somebody in our church. Next, we had to furnish the house, which again, we relied on a nonprofit in our city that offers complete house furnishings for folks in need. So we did that. We went to a local Latino community and asked for help with purchasing groceries for the family before they came, so that we would have food that was familiar and welcoming to them. And then once they were actually here, I can’t even begin to list the number of appointments with health or benefits, the multiple jobs that all four of the family applied for and just endless paperwork that our team, individuals on our team, sat for hours with the family day after day after day to make sure we checked all the boxes.

Again, Welcome Corps does a fantastic job of helping us know, in the first week, these are the tasks that you need to accomplish. And in the second week, these are the tasks to focus on. So we had a good list and a guideline of what we needed to do. And again, a good crew of folks who were willing to do their piece to get the puzzle all fit together. Welcome Corps also matched us with, gosh, I can’t remember her title, but she was a woman we met with every week through Welcome Corps, that would just, we had a standing Zoom with her every Friday and we could ask questions and sort of check in and see if we were missing anything or how we were doing, and what we should look ahead to. So, that was absolutely invaluable to our team to have that resource.

Miller: Maria, we’re obviously speaking to you today through the help of an interpreter. How has it been navigating in a new city in a new country where almost everything is in English?

Del Carmen Chaparro: It’s been a challenge. It’s been a really big challenge. The truth is that all the people that we’ve met in the Christian community and in the agency have been very loving. We haven’t met with anyone who has gotten angry or impatient with us.

In fact, everyone has been so lovely, so patient. They’ve given me time to look things up on a translator and I’ve learned a lot of new phrases at my job as well, phrases in English that I would have had to go study in a school, but I’m picking things up and I think that that’s very much thanks to how nice everyone is in Bend.

Miller: Maria, do you imagine that you’ll spend the rest of your life in the U.S.?

Del Carmen Chaparro: I believe so. Of course, I will. It’s my home. It’s my new home.

Miller: Do you feel safe in the U.S.?

Del Carmen Chaparro: Yes, I feel safe in the United States. At least I feel safe in this place. It’s far from where all of the immigrants are coming in. This is really my point of reference because I feel very protected here.

Miller: Amy, how long does the official sponsorship relationship last?

Kasari: Officially, we agreed to 90 days. That’s the Welcome Corps policy or plan that we signed on and that day has come and gone. And now we’re just in community with Maria and her family and we’re friends and they attend our church. So I see them every Sunday, other members of our team, especially the folks in our team who are fluent in Spanish are in pretty regular contact and they’re part of our community and part of our church family now.

Miller: Maria, you still have family in Colombia. Your older son is in Ecuador, I understand. How much have you been in touch with them?

Del Carmen Chaparro: Yes, I do have family in Colombia still. My mother, my sister and my nieces are all there. And I always ask God that the armed groups don’t find them because we’ve all been on their radar since 2002. I also have my oldest son in Ecuador   and I only talk to him two times a week because I don’t want to expose him to any danger because I know that he’s already in danger there.

Miller: What would it take for him to be able to join you in the U.S.?

Del Carmen Chaparro: He would have to have the process or leaving the country expedited. So he’s already been given the refugee visa status in Ecuador and he’s going through ANOR currently. So they would have to combine his case with mine, then go through IOM and start working on the process to actually get him out of the country. Another option would be to get him a work visa. So really, I’m just praying to God and hoping that through his will, we can make this happen and bring my son here with me.

Miller: Amy, do you think that your group would do this again, would sponsor another family in the future?

Kasari: Absolutely. We just, at our 90 day mark, had a sort of a team debrief for all the folks who’ve been involved and there was not one person who had a negative experience. We are eager to move forward and do this again and to include Maria and her family and the work that we do, when we’re ready to welcome another family.

Miller: I can’t help but think again that the reason you did this is because you heard about a story on the radio. Now you, as you noted, you’re on the radio talking about this. So it’s possible that somebody else out there is thinking the same thing. “Hey, I could do this as well.” What advice would you give to people who are at the very beginning of this process?

Kasari: I would say go for it, know that it’s a slow and steady process. It doesn’t happen all at once. So you just take those first few steps and keep moving through the steps as they are lined out, and build your team and get ready for your world to expand a little bit.

Miller: Amy and Maria, thank you very much.

Kasari: Thanks, Dave.

Del Carmen Chaparro: Gracias a mi y gracias Maria.

Miller: Amy Kasari is the pastor of hospitality and justice at the Antioch Church in Bend and one of the lead sponsors of a local Welcome Corps group. They sponsored Maria del Carmen Chaparro and her family who now live in Bend after escaping violence in Colombia.

For more context on this new Welcome Corps program, I’m joined now by Una Bilic. She is the deputy director for New Resettlement Pathways at the International Rescue Committee. She came to the U.S. herself as a refugee from the former Yugoslavia in the early 1990s. Welcome to Think Out Loud.

Una Bilic: Hi. Thank you so much for having me here.

Miller: Thanks for joining us. I’m curious, you’ve heard, I’m sure countless refugee stories over the years. What stands out to you in what you heard from Maria?

Bilic: Every refugee has its different protection story, right? We all come here for different needs and the majority of those needs are protection needs, whether that’s being persecuted based upon religion, race or whatever other reason. The keyword here is protection. The key word here is that the life that you have at your country of origin is in danger and therefore you are needing to be resettled.

So every refugee story is so different, but I want to point out here the difference in Maria’s story is the support of the private sponsor group of the Antioch Church. Now, while Maria’s refugee path is very different from my refugee path and story, the resettlement is enormously different. The love and care that the private sponsor group, the Antioch Church provided and still continues to provide to Maria is where I would say, is like one of the main highlights and one of the main differences.

Miller: What is different, practically speaking? I mean, we’re talking about thousands of families over a decade. So I guess I’m hesitant to paint too general a picture. But broadly, what do you think this new program can provide to new Americans that the old system was less likely to provide?

Bilic: Yeah. And I wouldn’t say the old system, right? It’s still a system that we have in the United States. Refugee resettlement that’s done via the resettlement agency such as the International Rescue Committee is very much still alive. And having a goal of resettling 125,000 refugees this year. But I’ll give you a personal example. I started with the International Rescue Committee about nine years ago and I opened up the IRC Tallahassee Florida office and it was my first time in resettlement, and I was receiving my first cases. So everything that was said before about airport pickups and employment and all of that, I was doing that. I was providing that for the refugee clients I was serving, but on my caseload, I had nine [to] 10 families at a time.

And I had so many different federal guidelines that had to be followed, very strict federal guidelines which you know, most social work programs have to adhere to. So not only did I have to provide all these like case management services, but I also had to make sure that my administrative paperwork and everything that comes with that was accurate. So think about capacity. Me being nine years ago, serving eight [to] nine families at a time. I did what I could. I worked so hard. I knew where the refugees were coming from. I knew what their fears were. I knew what their needs were and I tried. I tried so hard, but you still have limited capacity.

And that’s what the Welcome Corps private sponsor groups can do that we, as resettlement agencies, cannot. I mean, we all heard here how fast the private sponsor group was able to get every adult in the family employment. That’s amazing. That’s something that we strive for. But they had the opportunity to welcome Maria’s family and focus on Maria’s family and needs, where in our resettlement world, our case workers have caseloads of up to 50 [to] 75 clients at a time. And that individual love and care and focus that Antioch provided is something that we, as caseworkers, wish we could, but just don’t have the capacity to.

Miller: The flip side of that, though, that I wonder about is how much you think the Welcome Corps model can scale up? Because as we heard, what worked so far, it seems wonderfully, in Maria’s story, through folks at the Antioch Church in Bend, was that dozens of people in Bend came together to help her and her family in a variety of ways. Then again, this is just one family. How much can this be a model that could help thousands or tens of thousands of people over the course of a year?

Bilic: I think very much so. So look at the Antioch group and as Amy stated, she was very strategic in their recruitment and she strategically recruited at least five individuals. But think of all the people that we know, just in our immediate circles and how many groups of individuals we all can recruit, just from our inner circles, or associates of our inner circles. Does it take time? Yes, of course. But do I think it’s scalable? I really do. And the reason that I do think it’s scalable is if the right information is provided and if stories like Amy’s and Antioch Church’s are shared, that shows you that everyday Americans can do this in a group setting with love, care and of course, support. And the road to attaining self sufficiency, we can scale this up. It’s all just about getting the word out and recruiting the people who want to do this work.

Miller: I noted in my intro that you came to the U.S. as a refugee yourself after being injured in the war in Sarajevo in 1990, when I think you were 10 years old. Is that right?

Bilic: 1994.

Miller: 1994, OK. What does it mean to you to be helping refugees now, for almost a decade after everything that you have lived through?

Bilic: I knew that my life and my life’s work was going to be in refugee resettlement.

When we came, I was obviously what you would consider a high medical needs case. I was wounded, I had shrapnel wounds throughout my body and also wounded behind my left eye, in the head. And so I came with medical needs and my family, highly educated, both of my parents worked really what I will call like highly skilled jobs. And coming into the United States, having to navigate all the different systems, starting with the medical systems, which I think, those of us who are born in the United States, have a hard time navigating. Navigating the employment system, and not having that one on one support was really difficult.

So when I think of my refugee experience and how much I wanted to give back, I tried as hard as I possibly could to provide that one on one support, to provide that understanding and care that is needed in the refugee resettlement work.

Miller: Una Bilic, thanks very much.

Bilic: Thank you so much.

Miller: Una Bilic is deputy director for New Resettlement Pathways at the International Rescue Committee.

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