Holiday Letter 2024: Take Heart, Goodness Remains
Dearest friends,
Yahya is a 10-year-old kid who lives in a big, old, two-story house near St. Ambrose University. His smile lights up the room, and he loves school
Do you remember all the news stories about the atrocities that happened in Aleppo, Syria? That’s the city Yahya’s family is from. A bomb destroyed their home there. Yahya’s family, thankfully, escaped with their lives and found their way to the Quad-Cities in 2023
Yahya’s dad now works at a factory in Bettendorf. His oldest brother is a dishwasher at one of our hospitals and attends English class. His sister is a high schooler who earned honors for her academic achievements last spring and is this close to getting a driver’s license. His other older brother plays soccer with his friends and is learning English at a lightning-fast pace. His younger brother is happiness personified, just like Yahya.
His mom? She is one of our colleagues at Tapestry Farms. Yahya thinks it’s fun to have his photo taken with the crops she helps grow.
Stop by their house sometime. I can guarantee that you will be asked to sit down and offered a choice between chai or Turkish coffee. An important hint: Take the chai if your visit is at a time that ends in p.m. — Turkish coffee has quite the kick. Then get out the Google Translate app on your phone and settle in for an absolutely delightful Arabic-English conversation. Spending time with Yahya’s family is the type of experience that keeps us all going, and grounded, in our work at Tapestry Farms—being a partner with human beings rebuilding their lives that have been destroyed by war that they did not start, did not want, and did not give them a choice but to flee.
To be abundantly clear, we have uncertain times ahead.
Our nation’s refugee resettlement program will likely be paused or the number of arrivals reduced when the new administration takes over in January. That is in contrast to the 100,034 refugees admitted to the United States in fiscal 2024 — 670 who resettled in the Quad-Cities. For the next four years, we anticipate that significantly fewer refugees will be admitted through the 45-year-old program that has offered safety to more than 3 million people fleeing violence and persecution, including Yahya and his family. From the Democratic Republic of Congo to Syria, our nation—including the people of the Quad-Cities—has welcomed people who so desperately needed refuge from the life-threatening conditions in their home countries. The need is greater now than ever before as the United Nations estimates 2.9 million people will be in need of resettlement in 2025.
Our country’s refugee program got its start right here in Iowa. It was in the mid-1970s that then-governor Robert Ray made a specific request of the federal government to help people escaping from Southeast Asia. He asked: Change the rules of how refugees can come to the U.S. Let them make a home in Iowa.
“I didn’t think we could just sit here idly and say, ‘Let those people die.’ We wouldn’t want the rest of the world to say that about us if we were in the same situation.”
We thought we would be a part of welcoming 750 refugees to our community in 2025 — a record number. That is no longer the case. Instead, we anticipate that our work will be in greater demand for a different reason: we expect federal funding for resettlement to plummet, leaving fewer colleagues in refugee-serving organizations in the Quad-Cities to continue on.
Even though the future may bring challenges, take heart. Goodness remains.
Earlier this month, we started transforming our new space on the ground floor of Trinity Episcopal Cathedral in Davenport. We are so thankful for the people of Trinity, who opened their doors and their hearts to us when they found out we had to leave our home on the Annie Wittenmyer campus to make way for affordable housing. This move will give us the opportunity to expand our work in some very important ways. We plan to move in by January. We hope you will come to see us!
You may have heard that Tapestry Farms is now recognized by the U.S. Department of Justice to offer basic immigration legal services to people with limited incomes. For our clients, this means we can complete their required green card forms and, if they so choose, the paperwork needed to become a U.S. citizen. The need is great, especially as one of the three other legal centers that offers similar services in the Quad-Cities is set to close its doors at the end of this year.
Our farm is thriving. In 2024, we grew more than 10,000 pounds of fresh produce that was distributed to food pantries, sold at the Quad-Cities Farmers’ Market, and served up by our friends at the nonprofit Nest Cafe and Genesis Foodplex. You will hear soon about the launch of our monthly subscription produce box, Roots and Refuge, where community members can buy a share in our farm and receive a once- or twice-monthly pick up of hydroponically grown veggies. Stay tuned to our social media, website, and e-newsletter for how to become a part of this exciting new program.
I’ve come to the end of my space. I have an ask of you. If you can, please give a financial donation to support our work in 2025. I invite you to be a part of our promise with families from Afghanistan, Burundi, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Haiti, Sudan, and Syria - the home country of Yahya and his family: We are very sorry you were forced to leave your home, but we are thankful you found your way to us. We hope you find home again, here in the Quad-Cities.
Grateful beyond measure,
Ann McGlynn, executive director
563-370-0004
ann@tapestryfarms.org
P.S. You can make your gift HERE or by mailing a check to Tapestry Farms, PO Box 2332, Davenport, IA 52809. Thank you for investing in our work.