Four years ago, Ruwaida and Khaled fled Syria on foot to Jordan – like so many others, for the safety of their children, who were then just 4 and 8. They arrived in Atlanta this summer welcomed not only by our staff, but also by a co-sponsoring church, Holy Trinity Parish. A generous church member donated an apartment that met all required specifications for resettlement. Members of the church and other community volunteers cleaned and set up the apartment in preparation for the family’s arrival – and the rest has already made news. Community volunteer Amanda Avutu wrote this beautiful piece for the New York Times about her experience welcoming and ‘falling in love’ with the family.
Ruwaida began baking cookies to share with her new family and community. Just a few months later, with the support of Amanda and other advisors, Ruwaida has been accepted into the Start:ME Accelerator program, an intensive 14-week accelerator program that provides the most promising micro-entrepreneurs in metro Atlanta communities business training, mentorship support, and early-stage financing needed to develop their businesses. Through crowd-raising set up by her new friends, she has funding at the ready to support the dream. Channel 11 shared the family’s story this week.