Dear {{First Name}},
This time of year, we await the Presidential Determination on Refugee Admissions, which decides the maximum number and priority populations for refugee resettlement in the year ahead. It is due by October 1, following consultation with Congress. By the end of September, Canopy will have resettled 50 individuals during the fiscal year, most of whom have a family member or other personal connection to Northwest Arkansas. We did not welcome the 36 refugees who had completed years of the resettlement process and had plane tickets in hand when their travel was canceled in January 2025, following the indefinite suspension of the majority of the refugee resettlement program and travel restrictions.
We will not forget them.
On October 1, a major change from H.R. 1, the “One Big Beautiful Bill,” goes into effect: people with legal refugee status will lose eligibility for federally funded Medicaid health insurance. Canopy helps people with refugee status find work quickly, become self-sufficient, and support their families. The families still accessing public benefits are mostly families with many children.
H.R. 1 allows people with green cards to remain eligible for Medicaid. But that distinction is particularly painful when refugees are waiting years for their green cards. One Canopy client we are currently assisting has a 30 month wait time for her green card application to be processed, and she is not alone in facing an extraordinarily lengthy wait. She followed every step required by the U.S. government to become a permanent resident. Yet until that process is complete, she faces losing access to Medicaid under the new law.
When times feel bleak, I look to the strength of my neighbors.
Lailuma, Fatimah, and Mohziya are going to cook delicious Afghan and Syrian meals for the community in October. Did you see the group of volunteers from Belgium who decided to spend part of their vacation in Northwest Arkansas assembling baby kits at Canopy? How cool is that?
You’ll find Canopy all across Northwest Arkansas in the weeks ahead. Please join us in the community at the Downtown Rogers Farmers Market, the International Festival at the Botanical Garden of the Ozarks, the Homegrown Festival in Siloam Springs, and more.
There is a lot we cannot control. But there is also so much we can do: welcome our neighbors, show up for one another, and build the kind of community where people know they belong.
With hope,
Joanna Krause
Executive Director |
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