At a time when more than 110 million people have fled their homes because of persecution or conflict, it is hard to imagine how one person, one group of people, one community, can make a difference. Yet at its core, refugee resettlement is a local endeavor, and the local community plays a significant role in helping newcomers successfully restart their lives. Across the United States and Europe, groups of volunteers are stepping up through private sponsorship to provide the supportive, caring reception that makes such a difference.

What is Private Sponsorship?

Private sponsorship programs allow communities, organizations, educational institutions, groups of individuals, and more to assist refugees and other displaced people by supporting their resettlement and helping them integrate into their new communities. Unlike co-sponsorship – where community groups provide wraparound support to refugees being served by local resettlement agency offices – private sponsors take on all the responsibilities associated with resettlement.

These programs give everyday people the opportunity to take a leading role in welcoming newcomers to their communities. They also can expand a country’s refugee resettlement capacity, building on traditional resettlement processes to allow the United States and other countries to admit more refugees and other displaced people.

Why Partner with HIAS?

HIAS’ expertise in refugee resettlement dates back to the agency’s founding in the 1880s. During the first century of our existence, we resettled approximately 4.5 million Jewish refugees. Today, we help refugees from around the world who are in danger because of who they are, regardless of race, religion, and nationality. Across the United States, we resettle refugees and organize communities in partnership with our network of 29 local resettlement partners, hundreds of congregations, and thousands of individuals.

With our unique combination of expertise and our extensive network of organized and active communities, HIAS has been a frontrunner in private sponsorship. HIAS offers private sponsor groups with whom we partner a range of supports, including one-on-one guidance, regular workshops and trainings, weekly office hours, downloadable tools and guides, and an online Community of Practice that provides private sponsors 24/7 access to resources, discussion boards, and more.

Following the fall of Kabul in 2021, HIAS launched our first private sponsorship initiative, Welcome Circles, in response to the overwhelming need for additional resettlement capacity to help the 76,000 Afghans evacuated. As part of the Sponsor Circle movement developed by the Community Sponsorship Hub, HIAS’ network of volunteers came together to welcome Afghan evacuees into their communities.

When Russia invaded Ukraine in 2022, displacing nearly eight million people from the country, HIAS’ private citizen-powered model met the needs of displaced Ukrainians too. HIAS worked with Oxford University and Worcester Polytechnic Institute to develop RUTH, a proprietary platform that considered the resettlement preferences and unique circumstances of displaced Ukrainians in need of sponsorship when matching them with Welcome Circles in the U.S. With the advent of matching through the Welcome Corps and shifting circumstances in Ukraine, HIAS no longer matches displaced people with Welcome Circles — but RUTH’s underlying principle of putting choice and agency in the hands of displaced people whenever possible continues to motivate our work.

Since the inception of the Welcome Circle program in late 2021, HIAS has trained, vetted, certified, and provided ongoing guidance to more than 130 sponsor groups across the U.S., serving over 450 individuals to date. In Europe, HIAS has launched circles in 12 countries, and has served more than 1,000 displaced Ukrainians.