As a trusted voice in your community, you are best equipped to share the opportunity to join the Welcome Corps within your network. Use this toolkit to best suit the needs and resources of your audience.
A Note from the Welcome Corps
In January 2023, the U.S. Department of State launched the Welcome Corps, a program that empowers everyday Americans to sponsor refugees arriving through the U.S. Refugee Admissions Program (USRAP). The Welcome Corps creates new opportunities for Americans in communities across the United States to engage directly in refugee resettlement, building on existing opportunities to volunteer with resettlement agencies.
Thank you for your partnership in this historic moment! Your efforts are important to spreading the word about the Welcome Corps, and your participation is integral to enabling communities across the country to welcome refugees.
The Role of Private Sponsor Groups
Refugees are people who have been forced to flee their home countries due to persecution or a fear of persecution based on race, religion, nationality, membership in a particular social group, or political opinion. They often live in refugee camps and cities outside of their home countries until they can either return home, locally integrate within the country to which they fled, or be permanently resettled to a third country like the United States. They are searching for the security that a safe and stable home provides… and that’s where you come in.
Americans—just like you—are joining the Welcome Corps, feeling called to help refugees by offering a pathway to safety for those in need of support and in search of opportunity.
Private sponsors, in groups of five, will create the support systems to ensure that refugees can thrive by securing and preparing initial housing, greeting refugees at the airport, enrolling children in school, and helping adults to find employment. Most importantly, sponsor groups offer a sense of welcome, belonging, and inclusion for families that have left far more than their worldly goods behind—they’ve left behind friends, families, and the social networks that help us thrive. These shared acts of welcome bring communities together while making it easier for refugees to adjust to life in the United States.
How to Use this Toolkit
This toolkit is designed to equip organizations like yours to recruit members of their communities and networks to take the first steps in the Welcome Corps journey: learn about the opportunity to take part in the Welcome Corps and establish a private sponsor group. Groups can be formed by friends, neighbors, work colleagues, a congregation, book club members—any group of adults who together meet the requirements: a minimum of five members who are U.S. citizens or permanent residents, who are over the age of 18, and who live in or near the community where the refugee(s) will live.
About the Welcome Corps
Use this one-pager to share introductory information about the Welcome Corps with your networks.
Frequently Asked Questions
Through the Welcome Corps, Americans work in groups of at least five to welcome a refugee or refugee family by securing and preparing initial housing, greeting refugees at the airport, enrolling children in school, and helping adults to find employment. Learn more about the role of private sponsors and eligibility requirements for the Welcome Corps.
Getting Started as a Sponsor Checklist
Share these next steps with interested sponsors on how access resources and begin their sponsorship journey.
Host an Interest Session
Consider hosting an interest session to share more about the Welcome Corps, seek levels of interest and resources in our community, and share next steps for groups who want to work together. Included in this toolkit is everything you need to get started: sample event invitations, pre- and post-event checklists, presentation slides and more.
Five Tips for Starting a Private Sponsor Group
The success of the Welcome Corps depends on the compassion and generosity of people like you to engage their communities to participate. Use these five tips to share your “why” and invite others to join you in the Welcome Corps.
Sample Private Sponsor Group Structure and Roles
When recruiting for private sponsor groups, we encourage sponsors to consider diversity of membership—including age, background, skills set, race/ethnicity and faith background. Help set groups up for success by reviewing these sample roles and responsibilities to ensure groups are prepared to deliver core private sponsorship services.
Social Media Toolkit for Organizations
Use these templates and resources to share your commitment to welcoming refugees across your organization’s social media channels, and to inspire your network to join learn more and join a private sponsor group.
