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What is SFR CONNECTS?
Formerly called, “Welcoming Our New Neighbor Meetings,” SFR Connects continues to be a vital way to educate and involve our community in refugee resettlement efforts in Salem.
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History
In October 2016, Salem Leadership Foundation, in partnership with Catholic Charities and Salem Alliance Church, hosted a series of lunch meetings called “Welcoming Our New Neighbors.” The purpose of these meetings was to bring together the various groups and organizations that were seeking to care for refugees and to explore ways they could collaborate.​
Doug and Anya (Co-Founders of SFR) joined the “Welcoming Our New Neighbors” meetings & saw the incredible collaboration that was taking place. Near the end of the meetings, they presented the group with an idea to form a network called Salem For Refugees to continue the community collaboration in caring for our new neighbors. The group voted, “Yes!” and Salem For Refugees was born!​
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Today
Since the beginning of SFR, these meetings have continued offering a place for our community partners, business members, faith partners and volunteers to come together and to form a unique community of advocates. Our goal is to continue to build this community by sharing stories and unique experiences of our new neighbors and our various partners, as well as offering SFR highlights all with the purpose of learning how we together can become effective advocates and serve our new neighbors well.
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Join us!
SFR Connects meets the first Monday of every month at noon (September - June). Quarterly meetings are in person at Broadway Commons where lunch is provided. The rest of the meetings are facilitated via Zoom. Invitations are sent by email the week before the meetings and announcements are made on social media. SFR Connects is a great place to learn more about the work of SFR and the Salem community as we welcome our new neighbors. If you’re interested in being on our mailing list, please email: info@salemforrefugees.org or click the button below. You can also follow us on Facebook and Instagram to stay up to date on all things SFR.
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We value open dialogue and the sharing of diverse perspectives in our meetings. Please note that the views and experiences shared reflect the personal insights of the speakers and do not necessarily represent the views or official stance of Salem for Refugees.
Resources
Access our SFR Connects meeting, which was held over Zoom on Monday, April 7th.
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This month, we dived into a part of the refugee journey that often goes unseen: The In-Between.
Many of the families we serve didn’t come straight from their home country to Salem. Instead, they spent years, sometimes even decades in a host country. This middle ground isn’t home, and it’s not yet a permanent future. It’s a place of waiting. Of survival. Of holding on to hope.
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