Welcome Neighbor STL

About Welcome Neighbor STL

Welcome Neighbor started in 2016 with a group of volunteers delivering toiletries to Syrian refugees, and has grown to helping over 50 refugee families navigate their new American lives and over 4,000 supporters. 

In our Family Partnering program, we connect a team of volunteer partners to a refugee family to assist with everything from school registration, medical needs, social outings, and much more. The goal of the program is self-sufficiency for the refugee family and lasting friendship between the refugee family and the family partners. Our program started with Syrian families, and five years later, we have many family partners still in active relationship with their Syrian families! Today, our new family partners work mostly with Afghan families.

To supplement income and learn business practices, we started our Supper Club program in 2017. We teach our refugee friends how to manage catering events/supper clubs where refugee cooks keep 90% of the proceeds. Currently, we have served over 16,605 guests at 320 events and raised over $578,096.

Our other programs include:

- St. Louis Teens Aid Refugees Today (START) - Created as student-led group at St. Louis Priory School, START now has chapters at SLUH, John Burroughs, among others. START teen volunteers help refugee families move by loading and unloading moving trucks, volunteer at our Supper Clubs, do yard cleanup, go on trips to the thrift store or Walmart with the families, do swim lessons and tutoring for the kids, deliver furniture, and volunteer at local international festivals. Click here for more info. Click here for more info. 

- HumanKIND STL - HumanKIND STL's mission is to provide a foundation for immigrant families in St. Louis, MO through comprehensive, personal and compassionate support to ensure their long term success. Through the program, we have purchased over 35 vehicles for refugee families, helped families relocate to safer housing, helped kids register for school, and more! Click here for more info. 

- English as a Second Language (ESL) - Our ESL program is geared towards people who cannot easily leave the house for class and with little to beginner level English. Click here for more info. 

- Mother's Support Group - Bi-weekly, we provide a therapeutic support groups for refugee mothers. Jillayna Adamson, MA, LPC, LMHC, of Bright Tribe Therapy and Wellness is the creator and clinician running the Mothers' Support Group. Click here for more info. 

- Meal Delivery to Unhoused Individuals - Our refugee chefs wanted to give back to Americans in the same way we have given back to them. So, we started a meal delivery program for unhoused individuals. Twice a month, our chefs make meals and they are distributed directly to our unhoused community. We have provided 11,644 meals to unhoused individuals. Click here for more info.