A Year of Welcome

It was around this time last year, December of 2024, CRIS volunteers–the Juday family and their friends–were setting up a home for perfect strangers. Long-time supporters of CRIS, the Judays were excited to include their teenage children in the experience of welcome. Together they completed CRIS Welcome Team training and agreed to sponsor a family of five from Afghanistan soon thereafter. 

Amidst the bustle of the holiday season, their team cleaned the family’s apartment, assembled furniture, and stocked it with the essentials they’d need for their first weeks in Columbus. The following week, they met the family at the airport—no longer strangers, but honored guests—and welcomed them home with a hot meal.

Throughout the winter, the families gathered often—sharing meals, playing games, practicing English, and navigating life in a new place together. With each visit, strangers grew into friends. One young member of the Welcome Team shared, “Being a part of this team has been a great opportunity for me and my family. Not only is this family incredibly grateful and kind, but I have had the best time getting to know them, and I hope we stay close.”

Fast forward to today. There are no newcomer families to welcome at the airport. No apartments to set up. No welcome kits to collect. This administration has redefined a decades-old understanding of refugee resettlement, halted nearly all immigration pathways, and is even threatening the lawful status of thousands of refugees already here who were promised safety, stability, and support.

And yet—around the Judays’ Thanksgiving table sat a diverse group of families, representing 13 languages, including the strangers-turned-friends they welcomed just one year ago.

Welcome doesn’t end with funding cuts or policy shifts. It continues in living rooms, around dining tables, and in friendships that endure. And it continues at CRIS.

Welcome is still happening. Welcome is still possible. Keep welcoming with CRIS.