Refugee Artists & Artists for Refugees
Supporting refugee artists and their families & arts initiatives and programs for refugee children and children in conflict zones.
Photo Credit: Sarah Dawson McClean courtesy of Flying Carpet Festival
In my years of work as a dance artist and educator, I have experienced personally and witnessed in real time the profound effect that having access to the arts has on the potential for development of the human being, psychologically, spiritually and practically. I have also seen how those same uplifted human beings then turn around and lift the society around them through their art.
Last summer I had the great opportunity to work with The Flying Carpet, an arts festival along the Turkish Syrian border that brings performances and arts studies to thousands of refugee children and children in conflict zones. This experience unequivocally drove home my belief that the arts are the way forward for all of us. Because of this I have decided to devote my efforts to supporting both refugee artists and arts for refugees.
The arts are a great uniter between the hearts and minds of all people. With the tremendous amount of conflict and collective grief occurring on a global scale right now, it is imperative that we not only extend ourselves towards the practical immediate needs of the body, but towards spiritual, artistic and psychic upliftment. Such that would allow a person to grow and develop themselves in their creative gifts, thus lifting the individual and by association - the society.
Our mission here is both to support refugee artists and their families in their resettlement to the US; and to create and support programs that bring arts studies, experiences and exposure to refugee children and children in conflict zones.
Current initiative: We are raising funds to support a Syrian refugee circus artist and his family in their 2024 US resettlement
They are a family of 4 (parents and 2 children) being relocated to the US in 2024 through United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees. UNHCR partners with agencies in the US to resettle a certain number of refugees each year and there is a certain amount of funding allocated towards their needs but it’s a fraction of the cost of what it realistically would take for a family to start over from scratch. The great news is that this is one of the best ways to come into the country as they will have work permits right away and if we can just give them a bit of a leg up they will be set up to flourish!
We are currently fundraising for English lessons, rent, food, and basic needs to aid in the first few months after their arrival.
We have a Fundly campaign set up to support their English studies which come to about $384 a month with the exchange rate for all four members of the family to study intensively three times a week leading up to their resettlement. Any funds raised beyond the cost of the English lessons will go exclusively towards their basic living expenses. This is extremely important as the better their language skills are, the more they will be set up for success once they arrive. In this spirit we are raising funds for them to take intensive English lessons while they wait for documents to process, about 6-8 months. They expect to be able to be resettled between June-September 2024.
Our goal for this initiative is to raise $10k for living expense subsidy and $2500 for English lessons ($12,500 total).
This will cover a couple of months rent and act as a supplement for the nominal funds they receive through UNHCR.
How to Support
1) Fundly Campaign for English Lessons
How much are English classes?
With the exchange rates it comes to be about $384 (this is a different number from what is stated above) a month for a family of four to study three times a week, or about $8 per class person. For the whole family to study intensively for 6 months it would be about $2,304. All funds raised beyond this will go towards rent and basic costs for their first few months in the United States.
2) We are partnering with the organization New York for Syrian Refugees, a tax exempt 501c3 non profit organization that supports Syrian refugees once they are in the United States. Supporters can donate through NY for Syrian Refugees for a tax deductible donation and once the family has been relocated, NYFSR will pay directly for their rent and other bills.
Why have the NYFSR umbrella and the Fundly Campaign? Why not just one or the other?
It is imperative for their success that they start studying English ASAP and the NYFSR can only fund needs once in the US. It will be about 6-8 months before they come here and the Fundly Campaign allows us to fund their classes while they are still being processed. However the NYFSR umbrella allows our supporters to have a tax deduction while the Fundly Campaign does not. Since we are hoping to raise funds both for the English classes and the startup costs of resettling in a new country, we thought it prudent to have the tax deduction as an option.
To make a tax deductible donation to support our family through our umbrella New York for Syrian Refugees please click on the link below and choose the PayPal option.
***IMPORTANT***
Once you are in Paypal there will be an option to add a note, ****please write in the note that the funds are for Cynthia Dragoni Refugee Initiative ALMAQT Family***. This is important so that the funds can be set aside for this family in particular.
How will the funds be used?
All funds raised through our non-profit umbrella NY for Syrian Refugees will go exclusively towards startup costs for the family: rent, transportation, basic necessities once they are in the US. The funds will be paid directly to the landlords and other vendors.