Hearts & Homes for Refugees
Building community and helping refugees one family at a time.
Programs and results
What we aim to solve
More than 110 million people have been displaced from their homes worldwide. Of those, 35.3 million are registered refugees seeking safety. Unprecedented numbers are asylum seekers. Fewer than 1% of registered refugees will ever find a permanent home. Historically, refugees resettled through the 40-year-old U.S. Refugee program receive only 90 days of government support for immediate needs. Refugees are expected to become independent with little additional support. In 2016, HHR recognized that harnessing the goodwill and resources in our communities through Community Sponsorship (CS) could be a local solution to the challenges of resettlement and the global refugee crisis. Through volunteer-driven CS, HHR has extended support for our new neighbors for up to one year. In 2021, the U.S. State Department and five national non-profits launched the U.S. Welcome Corps program, expanding refugee resettlement by inviting everyday Americans to resettle refugees privately using the CS model.
Our programs
What are the organization's current programs, how do they measure success, and who do the programs serve?
Helping Hands
Helping Hands (HH) aims to assist those who may no longer be in the initial resettlement period but find themselves needing help from time to time.
HH is a “matching” program, connecting refugees with volunteers looking to be supporters of and advocates for the refugee community. With our partner, Catholic Charities Community Service, we are able to identify sthe needs and bring together the volunteers who are vetted and trained. This program gives individuals, families, and organizations the opportunity for meaningful interaction with a refugee family in need. Assistance might range from a clothing drive, the collection of toiletries, or the donation of gift cards for gas or diapers, to assistance with medical appointments, language classes, job training, job searches, or even a housing search. This program bolsters our recently resettled neighbors, engages volunteers and ultimately strengthens the welcoming movement in Westchester County.
Clients in the pilot program included five refugee/asylee cases, from Central African Republic, El Salvador, The Gambia, Honduras and Venezuela. More cases and volunteers are in the pipeline awaiting matching.
Co-Sponsorship
Hearts and Homes for Refugees partners with resettlement agencies to provide community support to refugee families in their first year after arrival to the U.S.
Advocacy and Awareness Raising
We raise awareness within our communities about refugees, asylees and those who qualify for Special Immigration Visas. This includes participation in public forums, film screenings, an online book group and more. We also advocate on behalf of refugees with lawmakers at the local, state and national levels, and encourage our volunteers to do the same.
Where we work
External reviews
Our results
How does this organization measure their results? It's a hard question but an important one.
Number of refugees (including asylees and Special Immigration Visa holders) assisted
This metric is no longer tracked.Totals By Year
Population(s) Served
Immigrants and migrants
Related Program
Co-Sponsorship
Type of Metric
Output - describing our activities and reach
Direction of Success
Increasing
Context Notes
Refugee populations assisted through our Helping Hands program, winter drive and community sponsorship. *2020 and 2021 included assistance via winter drive, which has since been discontinued.
Number of volunteers
This metric is no longer tracked.Totals By Year
Type of Metric
Output - describing our activities and reach
Direction of Success
Increasing
Context Notes
Volunteers and supporters across our coalition network, engaged as hands-on volunteers, active advocates and contributing donors.
Number of invitations for advocates to speak as experts
This metric is no longer tracked.Totals By Year
Related Program
Advocacy and Awareness Raising
Type of Metric
Output - describing our activities and reach
Direction of Success
Increasing
Context Notes
These events include presentations at colleges and high schools, synagogues and churches, participation in panel presentations and more. Presentations were down in 2020 due to COVID.
Our Sustainable Development Goals
Learn more about Sustainable Development Goals.
Goals & Strategy
Learn about the organization's key goals, strategies, capabilities, and progress.
Charting impact
Four powerful questions that require reflection about what really matters - results.
What is the organization aiming to accomplish?
Hearts & Homes for Refugees was founded on the belief that welcoming communities at the grassroots level can be an effective local solution to the global refugee crisis. We resettle refugees and inspire, educate and equip others to do the same. We aim to build communities that offer tolerance and respect for our new neighbors. Together with community partners, individuals, faith, civic groups, student groups, and U.S. Resettlement Agencies, we aim to provide the scaffolding of support, offering safe and inclusive communities and empowering refugee neighbors to rebuild their lives. Our programs include providing access to housing, education, language/ESOL support, helping navigate medical and education systems, offering support for mental and emotional wellness and more.
What are the organization's key strategies for making this happen?
WELCOME. Resettle refugees using the Community Sponsorship model. Hearts & Homes for Refugees connects refugees with volunteers who provide up to one year of initial resettlement and wrap-around services.
CONVENE. Connect, recruit and build a community of welcomers to encourage resettlement participation. Develop partnerships in key programs, events, engagements, and community activities to inspire, educate and motivate support for refugees.
EDUCATE. Community outreach programs, speakers bureau, webinars, engage youth through Students for Refugees chapters, and host awareness-raising and community events. Encourage and invite volunteers to serve our new neighbors while acting as Ambassadors to help spread the word about refugees and resettlement in their local communities.
ADVOCATE. From petitions to postcard writing, we encourage constituent outreach and provide guidelines and instructions on advocating for refugee resettlement in the U.S. Our goals are to advocate for refugees and policies that support the resettlement of refugees and the involvement of private citizens in welcoming them.
What are the organization's capabilities for doing this?
Hearts & Homes has been leading the refugee resettlement movement in the Lower Hudson Valley (NY) to meet the challenge of building and sustaining grassroots energy supporting refugee resettlement. We unite a diverse coalition of agencies, non-profit organizations, faith and interfaith communities, student and community groups, and committed individuals collaborating to support refugees and refugee resettlement in Westchester County. Programs are designed to cultivate volunteers, bring together, engage and grow this grassroots effort through education, awareness building, advocacy and direct support of refugees to assist them in their integration and independence as new Americans. We actively seek and receive grants and personal donations that have enabled us to successfully close to 200 refugees in co-sponsorship activities, and assist more than 400 in lighter ways. For more on this, please refer to our previous IMPACT REPORTS on our website.
What have they accomplished so far and what's next?
Since 2016, the need and opportunities for refugee resettlement, assistance and advocacy have increased dramatically with more documented refugees arriving to the U.S. through the U.S. Refugee Admissions Program. Hearts & Homes for Refugees has met the challenge of serving over 800 individuals in our region. We have engaged with the grassroots community in the Co-Sponsorship model of resettlement. Working with faith and civic organizations and individual volunteers, (currently over 300 active volunteers) we have formed more than 25 Community Sponsorship teams to resettle families in our communities. Through best practices, training zooms, cultural orientation and background sessions, we onboard and prepare each volunteer to guide and support newly arrived refugees as they begin new lives. In addition to housing and food security, we support our clients with many wrap-around services including career mentorship, education support programming for children, mental and emotional support, employment assistance, and ESOL to support our new neighbors in their transition to full independence.
In addition, we recruit for support and donations for drives for Winter Coats & Boots, Back-to-School supplies, and Personal Care Products. We oversee the distribution of twice-monthly grocery boxes, including Halal food to more than 215 refugees--53 families. Over 800 refugees have benefited from the donations of coats, warm clothing, boots, toys, toiletries, backpacks, food and toys donated during these drives.
We conduct outreach, education and advocacy to engage the communities we serve. We have convened over 25 groups and have more than 300 active volunteers who share our mission and vision, providing their time and resources to build a longer welcoming table for new neighbors in Westchester County and beyond.
Looking to the future, we will continue to build more deeply rooted support in our communities Our pioneering work in community co-sponsorship sets a national precedent, fostering new pathways for refugee resettlement as reflected in the Welcome Corps Program, a U.S. Department of State program enabling private citizens to sponsor and resettle refugees This initiative underscores the importance of Hearts & Homes for Refugees' early role in spearheading a much-needed shift towards more collaborative models of refugee resettlement in the United States.
Financials
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Operations
The people, governance practices, and partners that make the organization tick.
Connect with nonprofit leaders
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Connect with nonprofit leaders
SubscribeBuild relationships with key people who manage and lead nonprofit organizations with GuideStar Pro. Try a low commitment monthly plan today.
- Analyze a variety of pre-calculated financial metrics
- Access beautifully interactive analysis and comparison tools
- Compare nonprofit financials to similar organizations
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Hearts & Homes for Refugees
Board of directorsas of 03/11/2024
Kathie OCallaghan
Hearts and Homes for Refugees
Peter Collery
SC Fundamental
Lisa E. Kiernan
Steve Grieder
Entrepreneur
Joan Morgan
JFM Group
Donna Shirreffs
Robert J. Tracy
GIbney, Anthony, Flaherty LLP
Anne McCoolNixon
Gemm Learning
Lori Hosp
Janet Wynn
Saadia Khan
Melissa Roddy
Board leadership practices
GuideStar worked with BoardSource, the national leader in nonprofit board leadership and governance, to create this section.
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Ethics and transparency
Have the board and senior staff reviewed the conflict-of-interest policy and completed and signed disclosure statements in the past year? Yes
Organizational demographics
Who works and leads organizations that serve our diverse communities? Candid partnered with CHANGE Philanthropy on this demographic section.
Leadership
The organization's leader identifies as:
Race & ethnicity
No data
Gender identity
Transgender Identity
Sexual orientation
No data
Disability
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