HIAS Marks First Anniversary of Welcome Corps

SILVER SPRING, Md. — HIAS is marking the first anniversary of the Welcome Corps, an initiative launched by the U.S. Department of State and the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services to allow Americans to privately sponsor the resettlement of newcomers arriving through the U.S. Refugee Admissions Program. In December 2023, the program made it possible for Americans to name specific individuals to sponsor by submitting a referral directly to USRAP.

“HIAS is proud to be an official part of Welcome Corps as a Private Sponsor Organization, and we are thrilled to have more than 20 private sponsors in 16 states across the country helping refugees access housing, jobs, and education on the first anniversary of this program, which already has nearly 100 sponsors in 32 states all together,” said HIAS President and CEO Mark Hetfield. “At HIAS, our commitment to helping refugees, asylum seekers, and other forcibly displaced people has always been based on the commandment in the Torah to welcome the stranger, and now Americans also have the opportunity to help resettle people they already know. This expansion of Welcome Corps and all the other accomplishments of the program’s first year will make it easier to reunite families that have been separated by war or persecution.”