Megan Gross didn’t plan on having a big Christmas party this year — she typically leans more toward a casual holiday celebration with her family in their Rancho Peñasquitos home.
That all changed with the recent arrival of the East African refugee family she and her neighbors have been anticipating meeting for nearly a year. Until now, Christmas has been something the refugee family has only observed from afar in their home country, where the festivities include dressing in fancy clothes and making traditional dishes.
The family’s excitement at the chance to actually experience Christmas — the first holiday celebration in their new San Diego home — was met with enthusiasm by all. A full-blown Christmas Day bash was in order.
There will be gingerbread houses — including a Barbie dream house — games and a brunch of multicultural food, with a mix of dishes from Italy, Mexico, India and the refugees’ home country.
Gross and nine other neighbors are sponsoring the refugee family through the Welcome Corps, a program the Biden administration launched in January that allows U.S. residents to sponsor refugees who have been waiting to resettle in the United States. Sponsors provide support during their first 90 days, including helping refugees find jobs, register children for school and acclimate to life here. The sponsorship role is typically filled by resettlement agencies, so it’s not yet clear how the Welcome Corps will unfold on a larger scale.
The Union-Tribune was asked not to include identifying information about the refugee family, including their specific country of origin, at this time to protect their privacy and for potential safety reasons. The family declined a request to speak with a reporter during their first week in San Diego.
The arrival of the refugee family has felt like a long time coming, the sponsors say. Their group is comprised of 10 residents in the Rolling Hills neighborhood of Rancho Peñasquitos, many of whom are parents with kids at the same school.
They knew each other from school events but say participating in what they’ve dubbed the Rolling Hills Welcome Corps has brought them much closer as friends.
Megan Gross waits at the San Diego airport to pick up the refugee family from East Africa.
(Elisa Ferrari)
The group formed in February, applied to the program over the summer and ultimately matched with a family in September. After several months of preparation, the sponsors greeted the family at the San Diego airport on Dec. 15 with welcome signs, balloons and flowers.
Despite some initial confusion over where the sponsors would meet the family at the airport — an hour of extreme stress, the sponsors recalled — they eventually saw the family standing at the top of one of the airport’s escalators.
It was a day they said they will never forget.
“I jumped the highest I’ve jumped in my life, and that was partly trying to get their attention but also just the joy of actually seeing them and knowing we had found each other,” said Dan Norland, who is one of the sponsors, along with his wife Jen Barkley.
Over the first week, the sponsors and refugee family have kept busy, enrolling in state benefit programs, learning how to navigate with Google Maps, going to the Family Health Centers of San Diego for medical assessments and shopping for groceries.
But they’ve also made time for fun activities, such as doing crafts and listening to Taylor Swift with the sponsors’ children, learning to play basketball at the Rolling Hills Park and buying items at Target such as wallets and boots.
Dan Norland, left, Megan Gross, center, and Jen Barkley setup an Airbnb hours before the family’s arrival. They stocked the home with food and household goods.
(Ana Ramirez / The San Diego Union-Tribune)
“It’s amazing how much we’ve accomplished in a week,” said Barkley, who is the lead sponsor of the group.
To participate in the Welcome Corps, sponsors must form a group of at least five adults, take a four-hour online sponsorship training, complete a background check and raise at least $2,425 per refugee in the family they support, among other requirements.
The neighbors in San Diego raised a total of $23,050 through a GoFundMe campaign and fundraisers and also accepted donated items. For the first month, before they can find their own apartment or house, the refugee family will stay in an Airbnb near where the sponsors live that was rented through a partner organization.
Last Friday, hours before the refugees arrived, the sponsors went to the Airbnb to set up — stocking the refrigerator and laying out household supplies, toiletries, clothes and a computer.
Jen Barkley, a sponsor for the Welcome Corps program, brings in food to stock the Airbnb before the family’s arrival.
(Ana Ramirez / The San Diego Union-Tribune)
“They were delighted to see all those things” when they arrived, Barkley said.
During the Welcome Corps on-boarding process, the sponsors were able to submit preferences about the family size they could support, along with information about their community and languages spoken.
The sponsors and the refugee family hit it off right away — Barkley said it felt like they had an “instant connection.” On the 45-minute drive from the airport to the Airbnb, she and the family spoke about their lives, the Welcome Corps program and what to expect of their resettlement in the U.S.
It helps that the refugee family has already begun learning English and has been able to speak with the sponsors without the help of a translator.
A translator from the United Women of East Africa Support Team, a local nonprofit, did accompany the sponsors to the airport, though, just in case.
Megan Gross prepares to put out English and Swahili notecards in the Airbnb.
(Ana Ramirez /The San Diego Union-Tribune)
So far, most refugees have come from Sub-Saharan Africa, though Welcome Corps expanded sponsor-matching to other areas of the world in September. The refugee families and individuals matched in the program have already been approved for resettlement in the U.S. through the U.S. Refugee Admissions Program.
The Welcome Corps program was created through a partnership with the State Department, Department of Health and Human Services and a coalition of nonprofits. Since it launched in January, it has accepted 85 refugees, according to a program official, and nearly 100 private sponsor groups have applied.
The numbers are significantly less than the 5,000 refugees and 10,000 sponsors that the Department of State initially hoped would participate in the program in its first year. However, the program official said they expect the numbers to rise and that they continue to spread awareness about the program through social media and community events.
For the past few years, the U.S. has fallen short of its promise to receive up to 125,000 refugees. In fiscal 2023, it reached 60,014 — a little over double what the country accepted the year before.
A second phase of the program — which allows U.S. citizens and lawful permanent residents to refer and sponsor a refugee or family that they know — launched on Dec. 18, though the two phases of the program will work in tandem.
“Matching sponsors with refugees who they don’t already know will remain an enduring component of the program with the potential to help refugees who don’t already have friends or family in the United States,” a program official said in a statement.
Dan Norland picks up balloons before meeting the refugee family.
(Ana Ramirez / The San Diego Union-Tribune)
In some cases, refugees have been waiting in refugee camps away from their home country for years before they are able to come to the U.S.
The San Diego sponsors say they have seen the way that U.S. culture differs from what the refugees were used to in East Africa. For example, the family was shocked by how large the vegetables were at the grocery store, and the sponsors said it was difficult to explain how Americans use texting and voicemail to communicate.
On their first day, the sponsors gave the family a safety orientation, such as how to call 911, use the appliances at the Airbnb, lock the doors and do laundry — knowledge the sponsors say they can take for granted.
“There are moments where people are really adjusting,” said Stephanie Koehne, the sponsorship program lead at Alight, a nonprofit that is supporting the San Diego neighbors through the sponsorship process. “Arriving in the United States is a really different experience.”
Alight is one of the 25 private sponsorship organizations that is partnering with Welcome Corps. Once sponsors are matched with a refugee, they are connected with Alight — or a similar participating organization — which helps them through their sponsorship journey.
Koehne says that at Alight, each sponsor group is designated a guide that serves as a resource if they have questions or concerns and can ensure they are reaching important milestones, such as helping refugees find a job or enroll in healthcare and food stamps.
Sponsors must also submit 30- and 90-day progress reports to Alight and Welcome Corps, which includes goals that have been achieved as well as information on how sponsors feel supported.
Barkley said she has a 31-page spreadsheet with information on items such as the San Diego Food Bank and how to get a library card, all organized in a timeline so the group can schedule tasks over weeks and months. Beyond the spreadsheet, the sponsors are in consistent communication with each other via text and phone.
Swetha Maganti organizes food while helping setup the family’s Airbnb.
(Ana Ramirez / The San Diego Union-Tribune)
The group members also bring their own distinct skills and experience to the sponsorship. Barkley is a doctor, so she’s coordinating the refugees’ health care, and Norland, Gross and another sponsor are teachers and can organize the school registration. One sponsor who enjoys shopping has purchased items for the family’s arrival, while others who have family living internationally have helped the refugees call loved ones back home.
But the group is also taking a collaborative approach. They hold a Zoom call each Thursday night to plan for the week ahead and share responsibilities based on expertise and availability.
The sponsors say their primary goal now is to help the refugee family secure employment, with one refugee saying she’d like to work in a store. She speaks proficient English, Barkley said.
“I think if any employer were to talk to them for a couple of minutes, they would be really thrilled,” Barkley said. “I think they’ll be as pleasantly surprised as we are.”
Megan Gross, left, and Jen Barkley prepare the Airbnb with food and household goods.
(Ana Ramirez / The San Diego Union-Tribune)
Along with the cultural differences that are teaching them more about the refugees and another part of the world, the sponsors say they are grateful to spot the similarities, such as the relatable dynamic between family members.
“It’s honestly so affirming to see a family that’s really different from my family having the same banter back and forth,” Gross said with a laugh, noting the connection that her own kids are making with the refugee family. “A week ago, they lived a world apart and now they’re going to be together on Christmas. That’s a really cool thing that we’re all going to benefit from.”
