St. Louis Welcome Fund Created to Support Refugees
Click here to donate to the St. Louis Welcome Fund.
In 2021, St. Louis became home to a record number of refugees and asylum seekers, including over 500 people from Afghanistan. St. Louis continues to welcome hundreds of additional individuals and families seeking safety in the US.
To respond to resettlement needs, philanthropic partners have come together to establish the St. Louis Welcome Fund. Fueled by the generosity of the St. Louis community and held at the St. Louis Community Foundation, the Welcome Fund is a strategic way to answer the call to support refugees and asylum seekers. The Welcome Fund will help support a coordinated community response and fill gaps in funding as service providers adjust to an influx of needs in rapidly evolving circumstances.
“The fall of Kabul and subsequent evacuation of Afghans to the United States shined a spotlight on the need for a strong network of services for refugees coming to St. Louis, a network that has suffered from disinvestment in the past several years,” remarked Amelia Bond, St. Louis Community Foundation CEO. “Our goal is to support our nonprofits that are providing vital services to families in an effort to make the transition to St. Louis as smooth as possible.”
The Welcome Fund will focus on supporting organizations providing a range of services to refugees and asylum seekers in the first 90 days of resettlement to one year after their arrival in St. Louis. To ensure that the funds are meeting the greatest needs, insight from those providing services to refugees and asylees has and will continue to shape the Welcome Fund. An Oversight Committee, comprised of contributors to the fund and representatives from the refugee community, will direct the grantmaking process. In April 2022, more than $500,000 was granted from the Fund to 14 organizations. Click here to learn about the first round of grant recipients.
Partner with Us
The Welcome Fund is a collaboration between several local funding partners in the community.
“Trio Foundation is contributing to the St. Louis Welcome Fund as part our commitment to community and the fulfillment of human potential,” said Wendy Jaffe, Executive Director of Trio Foundation. “Through a pooled fund, we will be able to grow in our understanding of the needs of refugees and, together, support those organizations on the front line of serving people coming to St. Louis.”
To learn more or become a contributing partner of The Welcome Fund, please contact us today.
Current Funding Partners:
- Incarnate Word Foundation
- Light a Single Candle Foundation
- Lutheran Foundation
- Marillac Mission Fund
- Missouri Foundation for Health
- St. Louis Community Foundation
- St. Louis Mental Health Board
- Trio Foundation of St. Louis
- United Way of Greater St. Louis
- Youthbridge Community Foundation
This list will be edited as funding partners are added.
Donate
Donate to the St. Louis Welcome Fund here. If you have a fund at the St. Louis Community Foundation, you can make a grant recommendation on Fund Central.