Ali’s Story
Photo Credit: Taryn Schultz Like many refugees, Ali Mohammed has never known a life without war. His homeland, Sudan, was at war when he was born and is at war still. If you’ve met Ali here at Refuge, you know he has an easy smile, that he speaks softly and articulately, and that he makes […]
How to Engage
Furaha, Leon’s wife, at the baby shower. When I have a meeting with someone at Refuge for the first time, I often warn them that we may get interrupted. There’s a tragic version of interruption, and most refugees know that too well. Many of them had interrupted educations, interrupted careers, interrupted livelihoods, family members whose […]
Play
Photo Credit: Joe Gonzales I confess that I love to play. And I really love it when I can give people some hope that they can play, too. Hope that they can live freely enough to quit being in control for long enough to breathe. I know this is not the only thing people need, […]
Somayyah’s Story
Somayyah shows me the mug she found in the gift shop at The King Center in downtown Atlanta: “I have a dream that my four little children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin, but by the content of their character.” ~ Martin Luther King […]
The Minimum that Becomes the Maximum
Photo Credit: Tom Griscom Someone once called Refuge out for doing “the bare minimum.” To be honest, my first thought was, “Heck, yes, we do the bare minimum.” I know that phrase denotes doing the least possible, but what if the most we can do is never enough? Sometimes what needs to be done in […]
Ahmad, Dreaming
I remember how I used to dream… As a young pharmacist in Damascus, I dreamed of starting a family, of establishing my own home, of a full life. And then the war changed all of that. The violent interruption of our ability to dream is one of the hardest things about being a refugee. […]
I’m looking for 100 new monthly Refuge Coffee donors!
Photo by Patrick Koltz – http://patrickkolts.com Here are five reasons why I—a fundraiser who really doesn’t love asking people for money—have zero qualms asking you to become a regular donor to Refuge Coffee. When you give a monthly gift to Refuge… 1. You give to people. To be specific, to… Leon EleniAhmad Mohammed Malek Amena […]
We Stand With You
To our African American neighbors: Because true welcome includes sitting at the table of sorrow with friends and neighbors… We stand with you.We ache with you.We are for you. We commit to thinking deeplyTo admitting wrongs,Admitting them againAnd again.We will make space for honest conversations.And we will do our best to elevate justice. “By accepting […]
5 Ways to Support Refuge Coffee…from your couch!
Thanks to all of you who have already donated to our Tip Jar campaign, ordered a latte at our drive-thru in Clarkston or for pick-up at Sweet Auburn. Thanks for inviting our truck to your neighborhoods (appropriately socially-distant neighborhood meet-up pictured above!*). Even if you don’t live near one of our coffee shops, we’re working […]
How’re you doing?
https://youtu.be/I0NJ3WeK5io That’s a loaded question these days, isn’t it? We want to know how you’re doing. We want you to thrive, to stay well and connected to those you love. We want you to have a measure of peace. Our COO, Walt, and I (99% Walt and 1% me) created a little video to re-cap […]
