'We're stronger when we're together.'

A Q&A with Emily Laney of The Welcome Co-op

The Welcome Co-Op is a Georgia-based nonprofit that partners with local refugee resettlement agencies to ensure newcomer families have what they need to build safe, stable lives. From securing housing to distributing essentials like clothing and hygiene supplies, their collaborative model supports newly arrived refugees from day one. Welcome.US is proud to support their work through a virtual donation drive this May, and spoke with Executive Director Emily Laney to learn more about their work.

The Welcome Co-Op has grown from supporting refugee resettlement efforts to meeting broader community needs across Atlanta. Can you share more about the organization's mission and how it has evolved to respond to changing needs?

Our mission has always been to provide a warm, welcoming home to newcomers in Georgia. We center around the idea that we're building the community together to meet the housing and basic needs of the clients when they first arrive. Even though refugees are not arriving, newcomers still have needs as they move toward self-sufficiency.

So what does that look like for us? It has been going well over the last few months and continues growing. It’s opening our doors to make sure that any nonprofit that serves refugees has the opportunity to become one of our partners, has the ability to access all of the donations we receive, and the volunteer engagement piece, where we're able to host their volunteer groups.

As people try to find stability and self-sufficiency, what pressing needs are you fulfilling for the community and the partners you're working with right now?

We continuously hear that basic needs continue well after someone arrives—that's clothing and shoes as kids grow and clothes wear out, school supplies in the summer, and hygiene items as kids prepare to go back to school. They use up what they're given when they first arrive, and then work toward finding a job, creating additional needs.

When you have donation drives or other opportunities to interact with those receiving your services, what impact do you see on the people you serve?

Since moving into our new space, we've started putting out some of the surplus donations we receive, such as toys, stuffed animals, and household items. Before we moved in to this permanent space when we were setting up 700 apartments a year, when things are really, really busy we were just focused on that mission—get it done, get the housing set up, make sure they have the clothing they need, make sure we get the coats out—these different basics. In the last few months, we started expanding outside of necessities. Now, we can take these items we wouldn’t have had space for previously.

When families come, we point to those items and say, “Hey, you're welcome to take whatever you want.” They come expecting clothes, but are excited when they find out they can take these Pyrex or these Tupperware containers or some water bottles for your kids for school. That's not something we put in an apartment, but they make a difference. Last week, we had a family of five come in, and one of the little boys grabbed this bag of Duplo blocks. He was carrying it around, [and we were] able to just say to his mom, he could take that. The look on his face was like, “Oh my gosh, this is mine.”

That's the impact of having this central location for people to give things that can be passed on to the newcomer community. In the immigrant community, a lot of people are scared. They're worried, they're nervous, it's probably very lonely in that space, and anything we can do just to say, “You're seen and you're valued,” makes a big impact right now. So whether that's Duplo blocks or a Pyrex container, going above and beyond and making sure that they feel seen in any small way we can is special.

Can you describe your collaborative distribution model, which is designed to ensure dignity and access and foster equity and connection among the organizations you serve and the families you work with?

We have two options for partner agencies. First, they can send a client to our Shop of Hope to get clothing, shoes, household items, toys, or whatever we have sitting out. Then, our team goes back to our warehouse to grab hygiene items and cleaning supplies for them. The model is designed to stay clean, tidy, and organized. There are size tags on all the racks to show sizes; it looks like a shop. We don't hover, we don't give tons of advice. This builds this idea of dignity; we're just here to serve you. If a client comes in and says, “I have a job interview,” then I have special job interview clothes on rolling racks that we can pull out, but again, it's them making the choice. We're not telling them what they can and can't do.

Can you share a little more about the partnerships you have developed and how those relationships work for you, them, and the community you're serving?

We're stronger when we're together. The benefits of this partnership model are that we can receive donations, sort through those donations, and have a one-stop place for our partners to send clients. Another benefit is this idea of purchasing power and space. We just picked up eight pallets of cleaning supplies. That would have been difficult for one of our partner organizations to do on their own; they may not have the resources to transport the goods, the volunteers to sort through them, or the location to store them. But we just picked it up and put it in our warehouse. Today, two volunteers sorted everything out, made packages for clients to take with them, and put all of it away on the shelves.

Because we have the space and the volunteers, we can easily facilitate volunteer opportunities like that, which is harder for partner agencies to do. We're one entity helping a bunch of other entities with something that they could do separately but not as effectively, which is the biggest value of this partnership.

Are there other ways that our Welcomer community can get involved or support your work?

The Hands On Atlanta website is the most direct way to volunteer with us. Through the site, you can find time slots and direct needs.

Due to the changing political climate, we have lost so much revenue, so donations are essential now. The needs of our community are only going to increase, but funding is not going to.

Our biggest needs now are volunteering, donating items, engaging with us on social media, and becoming donors. As the public invests in our work, we can expand our model and best serve our clients.