Syrian twins win spots in national welcome program
Friday, May 31st, 2019
It is no exaggeration to say Yara and Yazan escaped war-torn Syria by the skin of their teeth. The day they left Syria with their parents and two older siblings, their home was bombed. Ten days later it was completely destroyed by fire. The refugee family was resettled in Chattanooga, where they have been rebuilding […]
Read More »Churches join to welcome refugees
Friday, May 31st, 2019
They may be different church denominations, but when you ask Jack and Nathan what moved them to come to the aid of refugees, they both quote the same verse: “I was a stranger, and you welcomed me.” It’s this common belief that has brought Jack’s church, St. Joseph Catholic, and Nathan’s church, St. Francis Episcopal, […]
Read More »We love our volunteers and donors—check out our celebrations!
Friday, May 10th, 2019
Volunteers and donors gathered in April for recognition events held April 11 in Knoxville and April 23 in Chattanooga.
Read More »Cars for Bridge—an Iraqi refugee pays it forward
Friday, May 10th, 2019
Karzan, who once oversaw hundreds of people working for companies that included a large American military contractor, AsiaTel and Coca Cola now works in a tiny office of two on a used car lot. Orange Auto Sales. 6271 Clinton Hwy. Knoxville, Tennessee. USA. Since his arrival with his wife and children in 2016, Karzan—who is […]
Read More »Former Iraqi refugee helps found church partnership
Friday, May 10th, 2019
Abdulwahhab Alabid, known as Wahab, came to America from Iraq determined to succeed. He went to work at Amazon. He started a catering business with his son, Ahmed, and wife, Jinan. He connected with a local family early on who helped him find the mobile home he bought and renovated (the beginnings of a small, […]
Read More »VISTA stands for “volunteer extraordinaire”
Tuesday, April 2nd, 2019
Whenever a volunteer transports a client or a newsletter goes out or an event such as World Refugee Day happens, an AmeriCorps VISTA member is behind it. In other words, this national service program is crucially important to the daily activities of Bridge Refugee Services. Nicole Fernandez and Ian Bicko are the first AmeriCorps VISTA […]
Read More »Volunteer spotlight: Tutor & client now lifelong friends
Tuesday, April 2nd, 2019
When Joyce volunteered to tutor English for Bridge clients after her retirement to Chattanooga, she didn’t realize everything that would mean. Trips to the store, to the doctor’s office, to social security. Helping clients for CNA tests, the citizenship exam. It has also led to lifelong friendship. Nearly 20 years after Tamara, a refugee from […]
Read More »‘And now we are together’–secondary migrants reunite in Knoxville
Tuesday, April 2nd, 2019
content warning: violence, war, death Kanyankogote and Sperto have known each other since they were forced to leave the war zone that their homeland in the Congo had become and forge new, if temporary, lives in a Ugandan refugee camp. That was in 1996. Twenty years later, they arrived as refugees but to different parts […]
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