Start by forming a group of at least five people. You can reach out to friends, neighbors, coworkers, your congregation, or even your book club or sports league to form a group. Working alongside others lightens the load and brings communities together. One person should be the Group Coordinator.
Sponsoring
Refugees.
Saving Lives.
Welcome Corps empowers everyday Americans to make a difference by helping refugees resettle in the United States.
How to become a sponsor
Over 100 million people around the world have been displaced by war or persecution. Through the Welcome Corps, a U.S. Department of State program, you can play a vital role in helping refugees start a new life in the United States by sponsoring them for their first 90 days. By becoming a sponsor, you can offer a lifeline to safety—all you need is a knowledge of your community and a willingness to help. Here are the four steps to becoming a sponsor:
1
Form a group
2
Fundraise
Sponsor groups raise funds to cover the 90-day sponsorship period, with a minimum of $2,425 per refugee. These funds are used to pay for housing and meet the refugees’ basic needs until they secure employment and can support themselves. Financial assistance may be available for some sponsors.
3
Plan and apply
Create a Welcome Corps account to start your application. Your group can apply to sponsor someone you know (such as a friend or family member), or your group can be matched with refugees already approved for resettlement and waiting for sponsors like you.
4
Welcome and support
Your group will greet refugees at the airport and help them transition to life in your community for their first 90 days in the United States. Along the way, your group will be supported by tools and resources from the Welcome Corps and ongoing guidance from resettlement experts.
Change a life, including your own
The Welcome Corps is a transformative service opportunity for Americans inspired to help refugees find freedom and security. Through sponsorship, you can be a bridge to safety. You already have the most important skills you need, an understanding of life in your community and a desire to lend a hand.
Meet our sponsors
The U.S. has a strong tradition of welcoming newcomers and refugees. Through the Welcome Corps, we have seen Americans step up to welcome our Afghan allies, alongside Congolese, Venezuelans, Colombians, and others in search of hope and refuge.
This mission is “something bigger than all of us,” shared Innocente, one of 12 members of a private sponsor group in Austin, Texas.
Five strangers connected by their passion to make a difference have merged their talents and resources to welcome a refugee family from Colombia to Raleigh, N.C.
Sponsor groups like Mission Maranatha are helping newcomers create a new sense of home.
“Every night when I go to sleep, I close my eyes and dream about America.”
With the help of his sponsor group, Rohan is able to dream of a bright future in his new home.
“I have seen a real act of kindness for the first time,” shared Samuel “Sami” Fisshaye when members of the Rockville 5 sponsor group welcomed his family to Maryland.
Our partners
Welcome Corps is being implemented through the collective efforts of organizations with expertise in refugee resettlement, protection and welcome under a cooperative agreement with the Bureau of Population, Refugees, and Migration at the U.S. Department of State.
