International Neighbors, a GPF grantee that equips newcomers to the United States with resources and skills they need to thrive, recently celebrated its ten year anniversary. Founder and CEO, Kari Anderson Miller, shared some reflections on the occasion of this big milestone:
“It feels like both a lifetime ago and just like yesterday when we officially launched International Neighbors with a gathering at Old Metropolitan Hall. As an elementary school teacher, I saw so much need in our refugee student community, especially when I scheduled in-home teacher visits. Food insecurity, makeshift beds on floors, lack of transportation to gain meaningful employment, confusion over school forms, little knowledge about basic household functions like thermostat operation, shower hardware, and laundry—all played into academic performance and social acceptance. My colleagues and I understood that we couldn’t solely focus on grades; we had to educate and equip the whole child—and their families too—a task that went far beyond the classroom.
That is the origin story. And ten years later, the narrative is largely the same—Welcoming. Equipping. Community building.
Someone asked me recently how our organization survived when statistically most non-profit organizations shudder in the first three years (not to mention the significant challenges of a divisive political climate, global pandemic, and an extended pause on the refugee admissions program in the United States since January). I answered that consistency over the last decade has been the key to our longevity. We simply refused to stop, even when change didn’t come as quickly as we would have liked, or when external circumstances were less than ideal.”
