ORIGIN
The Welcome to America Project
(WTAP) originated as a heartfelt response to the tragedies of September 11, 2001:
The terrorist attack on the World Trade Center on September 11, 2001 destroyed
many lives and forever changed many more. One of the lives lost was Terence Manning. Terence’s brother, Phil, and his wife Carolyn wanted to find a way to honor his memory and create
something good out of the tragedy that so directly affected their family. On October 7, 2001, Carolyn saw
a local news photograph of a political refugee family from Afghanistan now living in the Valley, a family that had endured
horrible suffering at the hands of the same terrorist enemy that caused the 911 attack.
Carolyn and Phil realized that the refugee family sought the same things they
did – safety, housing and a future free of fear for their children. They began collecting donations
of household goods and clothing for the Afghan family from their friends, seeking to give meaning to Terence’s death
in the survival of this family.
Meanwhile, Carolyn began studying the refugee situation in Phoenix and she learned that there is an overwhelming need
for help to political refugees emigrating here to save their lives and their families. When such refugees
arrive in this country, it is often with only the clothes on their backs. They are here because they have
fled persecution in their home countries, which are often the sites of war, genocide, armed conflict and the massacre of innocents.
On entry to the U.S., refugees are processed through the Department of Homeland Security, referred to resettlement
agencies, and sent to states selected for them by relief agency personnel, so they arrive here knowing no one and often not
speaking English.
What Carolyn Manning learned
was that there is an overwhelming need for assistance to these families to set up households and assimilate into our community.
Local resettlement agencies provide vital services but they cannot adequately serve all of the needs that exist. That
is where COMMUNITY comes in. Thus, the idea of bringing a positive light to one refugee family grew into a 501 (c) (3) non-profit
organization to help refugees who land in Phoenix resettle feel welcome in our community.
Since that humble beginning with one family, WTAP has grown into a network of
volunteers who work with one another and local social service agencies to help refugee families get started by giving them
donated furniture, household good, clothing and the comfort we care. Since 2001, more than 500
families have been helped and hundreds of people have volunteered in some way. WTAP has won a
number of awards and is proud to be part of the Phoenix community.
THE GOAL: to reach out to refugees right here in Phoenix with a warm welcome and
some much-needed furniture and home essentials.
THE MISSION: to build bridges of neighborly understanding between the local community
and refugees recently arrived from countries ravaged by war, genocide, and hate.
To fulfill this mission, WTAP volunteers and staff gather high quality furniture
donations from the local community, sort, store and then deliver them every Saturday throughout the year to newly arrived
refugee families. Each week, a volunteer team pays an initial "home visit" to the apartments
of new families to greet them and determine what their household needs are. They make a list of furniture
and other essentials and they listen to the refugees tell their personal, emotional stories of survival. They
then pass these lists and stories on to more volunteers who pick and pack items for delivery and mobilize volunteers for Saturday's
delivery.
These teams and staff members
transform almost empty apartments into warm, comfortable homes. They bring a message of hope, friendship and peace. They give
visibility and recognition to the newest residents of Phoenix -- people who are usually invisible, overlooked or misunderstood.
Every week we mobilize volunteers and, sometimes,
to ask for special in-kind donations for families with particular needs or requests.
