Welcome

“We are called to welcome the stranger and those living on the margins. To welcome means, above all, offering broader options for migrants and refugees to enter destination countries safely and legally.”

Pope Francis, 2018 World Day of Migrants and Refugees Message
World Refugee Day (June 20)

Parishes Organized to Welcome Immigrants and Refugees

Launched in 2010, POWIR supports a selected set of diocesan resettlement programs each year to meet critical needs of newcomers. Since its inception, 52 MRS resettlement affiliates have participated in POWIR, making a difference in the lives of individuals and families from 50 countries. Since May 2021, From May 2021 to January 2023, the POWIR program has coordinated the work of 9,900 volunteers who have engaged in 109,000 volunteer hours and who have helped 23,899 clients.

POWIR dioceses equip parishes and community groups with skills to focus on long-term integration as an integral part of refugee and migration ministries, and include English as a second language learning, literacy acquisition, and job readiness programs. By offering welcome and hospitality in their parishes and communities, volunteers’ lives are simultaneously enriched through meals shared and friendships formed.

If you want to learn more about the POWIR program, volunteer at an existing POWIR site, or explore the possibility of forming a POWIR program in your diocese, please reach out to us at MRSPOWIR@usccb.org.

To find your nearest POWIR program and how you can become involved, see the map below – Embed map if possible: