By Becca Raley
The United Nation’s Refugee Agency reported 117 million people were globally displaced at the end of 2023. Within this number, 36 million refugees have been forced to flee their homelands due to war, violence and persecution stemming from their race, religion, nationality, social group or political opinion. Acclaimed poet Warsan Shire explained the crisis best, “No one leaves home unless home is the mouth of a shark.”
In the aftermath of World War II, the United States came forward as one of 149 countries to support the Refugee Convention of 1951, establishing legal protections and pathways to assist refugees.
At Church World Service (CWS) in Harrisburg, my colleagues and I are proud to join with volunteers on the frontlines of welcoming new neighbors. From meeting families at the airport, to finding apartments, enrolling children in school and securing jobs, there are new beginnings every day. Refugees typically arrive with few belongings to call their own but the great hope of living in a peaceful nation where liberty, justice and equality are rooted in democracy.
With rarely enough hours in the day, funds, or human capacity to meet all the needs, resettlement is hard but deeply meaningful work. For my colleagues who escaped war-torn countries like Ukraine, Afghanistan, Somalia and Sudan, their lived experience as refugees fuels their dedication to our mission.
My own ethnic identity dissolved so long ago into our great melting pot that the reasons I serve feel distinctly American. My family’s Irish and English heritage surfaces rarely, with maybe a green sweater or a corned beef and cabbage dinner on St. Patrick’s Day. But history books and epic films help me envision the desperation my ancestors must have faced when over a million Irish died of starvation and disease during the potato famine, and another two million Irish migrants journeyed across turbulent seas to arrive in ports along the east coast.
I wonder: Who helped them? Where did they live? How did they find work amidst foreboding signs that protested, “No Irish Need Apply”?
Yet I also imagine the warm hands of welcome from strangers who met my relatives with unexpected kindness. Today, I’m still indebted to those hands as I aim to make them my own. In the 1970s and 80s, when my parents joined with their friends at St. John’s Episcopal Church to welcome Vietnamese and Somali refugee families, they quietly showed me: this is what we do as a family, as Americans, and as humanitarians. I still remember my dad beaming with pride the day he donated his favorite old station wagon to a large Somali family—the best set of wheels to get where you need to go!
In the face of displacement, the courage, resilience, talents and generosity of Harrisburg’s new neighbors is stunningly bountiful. As newcomers, they arrive with open hearts, eager to share their beautiful traditions, cultures, foods and music. Our economy will be fueled for decades to come by their motivation to work hard and contribute.
Just as we welcome new friends into our communities, their spirit of hospitality to welcome us into their lives is powerfully humbling.
At CWS Harrisburg, this vibrant tradition of welcome is alive and well. We invite you to join with us in celebration of National Immigrant Heritage Month and World Refugee Day from noon- 3 p.m. Saturday, June 22 at Maclay & N. 2nd St., Harrisburg. CWS Harrisburg’s World Refugee Day Block Party will feature free live multicultural performances, DJ Rocc B, a petting zoo, photo booth, kids’ activities and more!
Come and enjoy our Afghan Food Festival with free community tastings while supplies last.
As they say, one country, many peoples—together, we are America.
Becca Raley is Associate Director of Integration at CWS-Harrisburg. The vision of CWS is a world where everyone has food, voice and a safe place to call home. There are many ways to volunteer, donate and become involved. To learn more, visit cwsharrisburg.org.
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