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 9/11 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 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.