Welcome Corps program allows Americans to sponsor refugees and help them in the U.S.
Through Welcome Corps, U.S. citizens or lawful permanent residents can form a sponsoring group to support a refugee or refugee family and help them start a new life in the U.S.
María del Carmen Chaparro knows the frenzy of forced displacement, the sad routine of grabbing some clothes and running with her husband and four children, fearing being murdered. “It’s your life, or they take your children, they recruit them,” she said in an interview.
Due to her work as a community political leader in Colombia, Chaparro was persecuted and threatened by criminal groups until she crossed the border into Ecuador in 2023.
But the situation there was "terrible for us," she said; they couldn't get work, didn't have food and felt "impressive xenophobia" against her family.
While the family was in a shelter in Ecuador, they came into contact with United Nations officials who processed their refugee cases and referred them to Welcome Corps, a program created by the State Department in January 2023 to provide qualifying refugees a path to legal, permanent status in the U.S. — with help from people in the U.S.
The Rodriguez Chaparro family have found community and a "life without persecution," Maria del Carmen Chaparro says. Jenn Ackerman / Ackerman + Gruber / Welcome CorpsThrough Welcome Corps, American citizens or legal permanent residents can form a group and sponsor refugee families, facilitating their transition to life in the U.S.
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