“For the first time in Olympics history, a team of refugee athletes will band together in Rio de Janeiro this August to represent the 20 million people in the world who have no one country to call home...At recent press conferences, it has become clear that the men and women who comprise the team are united in a simple, yet powerful message they hope to get across to the world:

“ ‘We still are humans. We are not only refugees. We are like everyone in the world ... We didn’t choose to leave our homelands.’ "

Paula and the Traveling Granola Bar

Providence Granola Project Entrepreneur Assistant Paula Cunanan doesn’t like to go far without access to one of the world’s tastiest granola bars. That’s why when she traveled through Europe volunteering at organic farms, she took along a good supply. Then, picking up on an idea of PGP Director of Strategic Partnerships Anne Dombrofski, she decided to post “Where In the World” photos of her traveling granola bars on PGP’s Facebook and twitter pages.

Refugee Children Get Sesame Street

"Sesame Workshop and the IRC will adapt existing Sesame products and content for regions where the two organizations already have a presence working with young children and their families. ... The partnership is aimed at the children who make up half of the record 60 million people currently displaced around the world, specifically the one-third of that population under the age of eight."

Why Small Towns Seek Refugees

The mayor [of Goslar] has also said, "Anyone who tells me Germany is full up, or that we can’t afford them, I say think of our past, and of the future. Of course we can afford them – we’re a rich country, and we have a duty to help those in need.”

Staff contributorJuly 14, 2016refugee, small town, revitalization, welcome, Nagu, Finland, Canada, Riace, Kurds, Italy, Goslar, Germany, migrant, immigrantComment

Visiting a Refugee Camp

At the Providence Granola Project, we also see over and over again, that the reason refugees put themselves through so much struggle to come here and carve out a life is for family.

“I would love to create a way where the abundance of people who want to help could get connected on an individual, people-to-people basis to help those who need it most."

Staff contributorJuly 8, 2016refugee, ARC, Turkey, Syria, empathy, family, Providence Granola ProjectComment

Tea House of Understanding

Characterized on the Web as a “quirky tea shop with beverages such as smoothies & shakes, plus Mediterranean-inspired nibbles,” Algebra Tea House has overcome initial neighborhood resistance to become a comfortable gathering place for all.

Walking a Long Road while Serving Others

We introduced you to Aline back in May. Here she shares her story with our director of strategic partnerships, Anne Dombrofski. We think you will agree that Aline is just the kind of person we want here, building our country.

Our Big Idea about Small Business

Lately, we’ve been thinking a lot about the nature of business....what a revelation it has been to discover how nearly every aspect of a small business—from capital to product—can serve a higher purpose. We’ve started calling this intention to repurpose every component of a small business our Big Idea.