Helping refugees flourish faster
From the time she was a young girl, Kendra Jeffreys took an interest in diverse cultures. It was one of the gifts she appreciated growing up in Huntsville, Alabama, or “The Rocket City,” which attracted scientists, engineers, and their families from across the globe.
She fantasized about becoming a photojournalist for National Geographic, went on to study cultural anthropology at Emory, and spent time in China, where she learned what it felt like to be functionally illiterate and to rely on the kindness of others.
These experiences – and her nearly 17 years with Lawrenceville-based Mission to the World, a ministry for which she traveled extensively around the globe – primed Jeffreys for the role she serves today. She is the executive director of Friends of Refugees, an organization dedicated to helping refugee families flourish faster.
Located in Clarkston, which has been dubbed “the most diverse square mile in America,” the organization has been hard at work ever since the metro Atlanta enclave was designated a refugee resettlement city in the late 1980s.
Resettlement agencies, contracted with the U.S. government, help distribute funds to help support new American families, or refugees, in their first 90 days and may step in to offer additional services for up to a year.
Friends of Refugees goes further. It is a privately funded nonprofit that’s considered a post-resettlement agency. It focuses on bolstering families through a variety of programs in areas of health and well-being, education and employment. The goal is to ease the transition and empower refugees within the critical first five years of arrival, says Jeffreys, who also earned a master’s in public health from Georgia State.
There’s a refugee family literacy program to teach mothers and young children together, while emphasizing school readiness, and a refugee youth program to offer out-of-school enrichment for kids, including a seven-week summer experience.
The organization’s community garden, Jolly Avenue Garden, offers a place for new Americans to grow both relationships and healthy food. And various programs help facilitate employment opportunities, trainings, and networking.
Each year, Friends of Refugees impacts an average of 2,000 refugees, representing more than 15 ethnic groups and speaking up to 20 languages. More than half of the staff are new Americans themselves, making them uniquely qualified to help and communicate with others. Currently, the bulk of those served come from Afghanistan, the Democratic Republic of the Congo and Myanmar/Burma.
As you can imagine, it takes quite a bit of money to support the organization’s work.
When Jeffreys stepped into her position in June 2021, Friends of Refugees already had a relationship with Tandem Bank, which she credits for helping the organization secure the PPP loans it needed to stay afloat during the COVID-19 pandemic. She especially appreciates Tandem’s personalized service.
“We love being able to go in there, meet with actual people and not have to go through a call center,” she says. “They’ve been attentive and responsive in ways you don’t get with big banks.”
Friends of Refugees receives 80% to 90% of its funding from local Atlantans. Between the support it gets from across Atlanta and through partners like Tandem Bank, Jeffreys sees the organization as a “love letter from Atlanta to welcome refugees.”
Since most refugees have experienced severe trauma, the importance of a warm welcome cannot be underestimated. Building relationships and community in safe spaces, says Jeffreys, is crucial for healing and, ultimately, flourishing.
