Welcome Corps Allows Private Americans to Help Resettle Refugees
Joe & Kim Mitchell are part of a private sponsor group in Idaho Falls that welcomed refugees to the city for the first time in decades.
In April 2022, through the Operation Allies Welcome program, their Sponsor Circle welcomed three Afghan Air Force pilots, allies of the U.S. military operation.
The community response was so overwhelmingly positive that the group formed a nonprofit, Idaho Falls Bridge Builders, which in 2023 welcomed another refugee family, from Ukraine.
Joe & Kim were inspired to be involved in a private sponsor group because they know what it’s like to be newcomers in a foreign country. Their family spent a total of seven years living in rural China, and the way they were welcomed into the community with open arms inspired them to provide a similar welcome to others in their home state of Idaho.
Connect with Idaho Falls Bridge Builders: https://sites.google.com/view/idaho-falls-bridge-builders/home
Learn more about Welcome Corps: https://welcomecorps.org/
Reach MOSAICS with questions and story suggestions: [email protected]
Mosaics is recorded and produced by SB Studios
Mosaics host Holly Beech recently joined the Unified Purpose podcast to dive into what it means to help people transition from surviving trauma to...
Ahmadi served as a transport pilot in the Afghan Air Force before relocating to Idaho Falls in 2022 through a private sponsorship group, along...
Lisa Meierotto is the Program Lead of Boise State University’s Global Studies program, which she helped create. Along with teaching, Lisa researches intersections between...