Please Join Us...

...for our End-of-Term Potluck celebration (click on the picture to enlarge):

Please join us on Thursday, June 30th at New Heights Baptist Church from 10:00 am- 12:00 pm as we celebrate the end of the term!  Our friend Wanda will be with us to teach the elders some exercises they can do over the break to help stay fit; we'll then enjoy a delicious potluck as we wrap up a very successful term!

Please bring a plate of food to share with everyone; be mindful of diet restrictions many of our elders have.  You may bring pork, beef, and other meat dishes, but please label them accordingly.  Please don't hesitate to ask me any questions if you are concerned about your dish.

We hope to see you there!

Meeting the Mayor

Last week, Louisville Mayor Greg Fischer visited KRM to recognize the Beaded Treasures Project, a wonderful new enterprise helping refugee women overcome economic, social, and linguistic barriers to success.  You can learn more about Beaded Treasures here.

The same day Mayor Fischer was speaking about Beaded Treasures, the Elder Program was participating in a field trip to KRM to celebrate World Refugee Day in conjunction with the Family Center (a program that provides English classes to many refugee women while also providing daycare for their young children).  After Mayor Fischer concluded his time with the Beaded Treasures Project, he visited the Elder Program and Family Center participants as they worked on art projects and peace games.  He shared a few words of encouragement with the elders and women and children of the Family Center and even stopped to meet several of them individually:

Chandra and Tara are honoured to meet Mayor Fischer!

Mayor Fischer speaks with Milagros and Lazaro about their upcoming citizenship examination.  He wished them well and assured them he would try to come to their oath ceremony!

Emma and her mentor Mary Ellen enjoy an animated conversation- en Espanol- with Mayor Fischer.

Abdulamir poses for a friendly picture with the mayor.

Mayor Fischer speaks to a group of Nepali elders after they completed their art therapy session and peace games.

Thanks for visiting, Mayor Fischer!  We appreciate your time and encouragement!

You can find more pictures from Mayor Fischer's visit by clicking here.

World Refugee Day

World Refugee Day is celebrated each year on June 20th, and both KRM and MRS will celebrate this special day first marked in 2001 (click on the pictures to enlarge):

Please join us for these events as we realize that "One refugee without hope is too many."

Welcome! Soo dhawow! Ahlen wa Sahlen! Bienvenido! Karibu! Swagatam! Dobro pozalovat!

Welcome to the blog of the Refugee Elder Program!  This is our first step into the world of blogging, but we are excited about the journey.  Through this blog, we hope our staff, teachers, and volunteers of the Elder Program, as well as the larger community around us, will be able to gain a greater understanding of the impact of the Refugee Elder Program.  We plan to share inspiring stories- as well as some amusing ones- client recipes, volunteer spotlights, and general updates about what's happening at the Refugee Elder Program...and believe me, there is always something happening!

I would like to thank all of the individuals who have been involved in the Refugee Elder Program- from the staff to the teachers to the volunteers to all of our partners who make the program possible- we simply could not have done this program without you.  You are the reason why this program continues to grow and continues to make an impact on the refugee elders and their families in the Louisville area.  I hope this program will be successful for many years to come!

We will continually update and edit the blog, but if you have content you would like to see published, please contact me at jjohnson@kyrm.org.  Also, please subscribe to our blog by entering your email under the 'Follow by Email' heading to the right.  Every time we publish something on the blog, the information will go straight to your inbox.  Feel free to share the blog with your family, friends, neighbors and coworkers!  We are proud of our program and want the community to know more about us.  If you have any other questions about the blog or the Refugee Elder Program, please don't hesitate to contact me.

We look forward to sharing more with you!