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Our Podcast
Listen to stories that bring our mission to life. In this podcast series, community leaders, volunteers, clients, and partners share their experiences with migration, service, and hospitality.
This is a section of our website where we put special thoughts or messages from our staff.
John is the chairman of the board for The Welcome Network & a pastor of Mercy Hill Church in Munster. John & our storyteller do an in depth study of scripture together going through every passage in scripture in both the Old & New Testaments that have something to say about welcoming immigrants & God’s heart for them.
Julia & her family have hosted several families for us throughout the years. Our interview with Julia goes deeper into what it is like to host a newcomer family in your home for an extended duration of time and how to make the experience a win for everyone involved. We hope that their story encourages & inspires you!
Tim is an ESL teacher with the Chicago Welcome Center & the pastor of Chicago Gospel Fellowship. We hope his & his community's story inspires our network to limitlessly dream about how we can with greater identity be welcomers to newcomers.
Deborah is one of our key volunteers helping to build deep relationships with the newcomers we serve. Please watch or listen to her story, thank you!
This section of our website is dedicated to telling stories about the newcomer families and individuals that we have served
This story features Swieta Syrota. She and her family fled Ukraine from the recent conflict. They lived in our Welcome Home for about a year, & now Swieta serves on our board of directors. Please watch her story!
This story features Cecilia Whitehead. She's originally from Latin America. We helped her with her Green Card, applying for citizenship, & she recently became a citizen. She's a teacher at Crown Point Christian School. Please watch her story!
In Gabriela Diaz's story, she is originally from Mexico, she studied immigration law at UC Berkley, she was one of the first DACA recipients, she was a CPS teacher in Chicago, & now she works with us helping our clients & planning fundraising events. Her story is amazing; please watch!
This part of our website is dedicated to global partners who do similar things around the world welcoming migrant newcomers. Our hope is to lock arms with those who do similar work with the same heart to both support from & learn from each other.
Nick Courchesne is a member of International Literacy & Development (ILAD). In recent years, ILAD has started a Refugee Business Center in DFW meant to help refugees start & run their own businesses. Some of our staff were a part of ILAD’s initial planning to implement this initiative many years ago, & it’s beautifully grown since!
Leslie McGowan is a part of a network in Tulsa that provides home based English Clubs to help newcomers & new arrivals practice English in an American home in the context of friendships & community (some of our staff used to serve in this English Club network with Leslie). We hope that what Leslie & her network do can inspire us to creatively dream about how to offer greater hospitality to the newcomers in our context through home based English practice clubs. We hope you enjoy our interview with Leslie; she's a joy!
Scott Austin Key is the co-founder of Every Shelter, More than 120 million people are displaced the world; the average duration of displacement is over 20 years long. Every Shelter designs shelter solutions with refugees & displaced families in refugee camps around the world so they can create a home for that duration. We hope you enjoy our interview with Scott!
Loren Balisky is the director & founder of Kinbrace. Kinbrace is located in Vancouver, British Columbia. Kinbrace is a community that we learned about through the book "Refuge Reimagined", & the community is a source of inspiration for our Welcome Homes. We're very thankful for Loren to take time with us to explain: what the Kinbrace community does, where it started, & what they have their fingers into in serving "Refugee Claimants".
Amber Elworth & her team co-manage a coffee shop in Baton Rouge called "Lighthouse Coffee". Lighthouse was specifically started to hire migrant newcomers. We hope that Amber's story encourages individuals our network to consider and dream about starting similar kinds of businesses with the same heart!
Denise Dagher is the director of Kids Alive Lebanon (or Dar El-Awlad). Dar El-Awlad has been in existence addressing various crises of displaced children since the 1948 Nakba. Dar El-Awlad has served displaced Palestinians, Sudanese, Iraqis, & most recently Syrians through a variety of means & programs. This interview was recorded on December 3, 2024. Our interview covers how most recent events have affected Dar El-Awlad. Please want & listen!
This part of our website is dedicated to the similar work of critical partners in the region serving the migrant newcomer community. We want to hear their stories, learn what they do, celebrate our shared mission, & connect our volunteers to resources that can be shared and collaborated with our local partners.
Maria Cabrales is a business immigration attorney with Davis & Campbell, she grew up in NW Indiana, she’s volunteered with The Welcome Network for many years, & recently become a board member with The Welcome Network.
Chris Ophus is part of New Life Centers in Chicago, & specifically their project called "New Vecinos". During the massive migration of Venezuelans to Chicago, Chris & New Life Centers then & are today a part of the lives of many of the families that the New Vecinos project resettled throughout the city.
The Welcome Network locked arms with New Life Centers during this time in mobilizing a massive amount of clothing donations for new arrivals that we gave to Chris & his team to give to the Venezuelans families that they were and are still serving.
This interview explores the work of New Life Centers with the growing Venezuelan community primarily in South Chicago, how that community is doing now, & how our network can continue to serve that community with New Life Centers.
"We are helping to integrate immigrants into the community & helping them find jobs." - M. Diana Gutierrez, South Suburban College
For interest in teaching ESL at South Suburban College, you can contact:
Raylynn Stokes - Director of Adult Education (Information on the tutoring program) (708) 596-2000 Ext. 5762
Christine Griggs - Administrative Assistant to Director of Adult Education (708) 596-2000 Ext. 2398