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WELCOME, NEIGHBOR
A PARTNERSHIP BETWEEN MIRY’S LIST, LA2050 AND EMPOWERLA
Miry’s List won the 2018 LA2050 Activation Challenge, and since then, Welcome, Neighbor engagements have provided numerous interactive opportunities for Angelenos to learn about how refugees settle in our city, how it feels for families, and how we can help. Participants had opportunities to meet new arrival families directly, getting to know one another as neighbors, often over a meal, conversation, and shared lived experiences.
Since its inception, we have enrolled 14 neighborhood councils in Welcome, Neighbor and appointed 24 volunteer Welcoming Liaisons leading their neighborhood’s efforts towards resettling refugees. Our neighborhood welcoming resolution, declaring neighborhoods a safe, welcoming place for all, has been adopted by 9 neighborhood councils across the city. More than 10,800 people have made direct in person connections with resettling Angelenos at 64 Welcome, Neighbor events, and we have reached nearly 80,000 more people through outreach, marketing, and social media.
Miry’s List team members and program recipients presented at 17 neighborhood council meetings, providing board members and stakeholders with information about and actionable steps for gaining perspective about and supporting resettling Angelenos. Around the holidays, some councils chose to have a direct impact in the form of housewarming gifts.
Welcome, Neighbor activated Angelenos to the vastly diverse experiences of refugees and encouraged new engagement with these populations. In-person engagements ranged from a multicultural story hour at Hammer Museum Family Day, to middle schoolers sending welcome packages and cards to our newest arrivals, to a panel about the diverse makeup of the LA food scene at the Los Feliz Art & Food Festival.
— Mayor Eric Garcetti, November 2019
Mona Caro, CRM Director Rabia Ahmadi, Director of Family Services, Farsi
Ayman Issa, Director of Logistics
