Pennsylvania Governor’s Proclamation Issued for Immigrant Heritage Month and World Refugee Day

The Church World Service South Central PA Offices in Lancaster and Harrisburg are thrilled to celebrate Gov. Josh Shapiro’s Proclamation designating June 2024 as Immigrant Heritage Month and June 20, 2024, as World Refugee Day in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. In his Proclamation, Governor Josh Shapiro states, “I encourage all Pennsylvanians to raise awareness of their challenges, promote their integration …

An Afghan Wedding in Carlisle

Sameer and Tamana always dreamed of a traditional Afghan wedding, which according to Sameer, is like an Indian wedding on steroids — with days of celebration and a month long “honeymoon”— whereby the newly married make the rounds to visit relatives during their first 30 days of marriage. But as the fall of Afghanistan to the Taliban accelerated last summer, …

When Afghanistan Fell

When Afghanistan fell to the Taliban in August, Sherri Kimmel worried about the family of a student she’d met through her work at Bucknell University. Her efforts to help that family led her to Church World Service (CWS), one of nine national organizations working with the U.S. government to resettle the 76,000 Afghans lucky enough to reach the United States. …

Harrisburg ArtsFest

When the wonderful folks at St. Steven’s Episcopal Church of Harrisburg reached out to us to tell us they would give us their front lawn during day 1 of ArtsFest, which faces Riverfront Park, we were elated! Our friend at the church, Gerry Garber, walked us through the process of getting our new neighbors crafts ready, setting up the space …

Lake Tobias

Messiah University reached out to CWS Harrisburg to ask if the youth program could connect with our refugee clients. Our Messiah University friends wanted meet and better understand the journey disadvantaged folks are on, especially those displaced by humanitarian crises. And they came up with a wonderful idea — they decided to take our new neighbors to Lake Tobias Wildlife …