In the past two years, Texas’ cities and its statehouse have been at odds about what to do with refugees seeking safe haven here. The state’s largest municipalities have welcomed them with open arms. Houston has resettled more refugees than anywhere in the world. Dallas’ city and county leaders have made remarkably public statements of support—County Judge Clay Jenkins declaring that Dallas would house 2,000 refugees fleeing violence in Central America if needed, Mayor Mike Rawlings declaring it “the spirit of Dallas” to resettle the Syrian refugees who Gov. Greg Abbott had attempted to bar from entering the state.
The politics eat up the headlines, but there are groups on the ground in Dallas doing the work to help those who have been certified by the United Nations refugee agency. Fewer than 1 percent of the world’s 20 million refugees get the OK, and they must be placed in a city where relatives live or where there exists a community that shares a common language and culture. The International Rescue Committee helps build those communities like Vickery Meadow, which has been referred to in these pages as “Dallas’ own United Nations.” Its members greet refugees at the airport, provide them a furnished place to stay, and help connect them with jobs and basic services like healthcare. Two years ago marked the beginning of the GenR—Generation Rescue—chapter of the IRC here in Dallas, a volunteer organization made up of young professionals who help provide those services to the people being resettled. There are about a dozen chapters across the country.
It’s grown to include close to 100 members, and tonight marks its second annual Force For Change dinner and fundraiser. It’s sponsored by Slow Bone, AirBnb, Samuel Adams, TripAdvisor, and more. I caught up with Michele Villarreal, the head of GenR and the IRC’s development and external relations coordinator. It’s been lightly edited for length and clarity.
Here’s more information on the event—it starts at 7 p.m. at AMS Pictures in Addison. Tickets are available at the door.
D Magazine: Talk a bit about GenR. This is a national group with different chapters through the IRC, correct? How did this come about?
Villarreal: Right. There’s an international component and there’s a local component. Dallas is a little different, we have members in Austin and Houston. It’s more of a Texas chapter, because we sparked up just after in 2015, just after the Syrian crisis came full forward. The state of Texas was trying to keep Syrian refugees from coming in. Our chapter was a few weeks old and so we have had a history of being very prone to advocacy. That’s why we have so many members all over the state. People felt that it wasn’t just a Dallas thing.
Houston resettles the most refugees in the country, but Dallas is second. We have a mayor that’s extremely welcoming; Mayor Rawlings and Judge Jenkins are on the forefront of welcoming the immigrant community, especially the refugee community. So, that, obviously, really helps. It legitimizes your cause. A year ago when there was a lot of anti-refugee resettlement rhetoric during the campaign, we’re getting calls asking, ‘are these people legal? Are they dangerous?’ It really helps to have politicians coming out and saying the opposite of what our governor was saying. The reality is we have facts on our side, and that’s really what I arm our GenR members with. They learn about refugee resettlement programs, they learn about the people we resettle, about who is coming in, about the process to get into the country, and how it’s an average of 36 months to be vetted and get in. Oftentimes it’s much longer than that.
D: What are some of the ways GenR helps out?
Villarreal: I have GenR members do everything from picking up refugees from the airport and being that first face that they meet all the way to hosting youth career days. Sometimes, with these refugee kids, we’re asking them for the first time what their dreams are, what their aspirations are.. During the month of Ramadan, they’ve hosted Iftar dinners for some of our Muslim refugees; they’re literally breaking bread with them after fasting all day. They learn about their stories and talk through their fears and plans for the future. I’ve had GenR members welcome kids during Halloween—that’s a new concept for a lot of people, just letting them know it’s quite normal once a year to dress up in a costume and carve pumpkins and eat candy and things like that.
We also have a new roots program, the community garden and healthy foods and agricultural program. We have done work days side by side with refugee farmers where we’re plowing the ground along with them. We have eight community gardens. We have partnerships with existing gardens. A lot of the gardens here in DFW, they have the land and they have the space and the abilities, but not the people who work it. We plug them with refugee farmers who have done it for generations, so our farmers are able to grow what they’re familiar with.
D: Does advocacy ever play a role in what GenR does?
Villarreal: In the last two years, we’ve plugged in GenR to do the kinds of things that we never had the manpower to do. It’s one thing to work with a church group, they go in and do their service and leave. They do a lot of good work, but it’s very mechanical. You set up the activity and do it and you have a purpose. With GenR, their purpose is to tell the story of a refugee. They go to their workplaces and talk about refugee resettlement and tell people that they are just like you and I and have dreams and aspirations and just need a chance. The only way they can really do that is by really getting to know our clients on a deep, deep level. I create these activities and these volunteer days where I’m not really telling or forcing anyone to do something specific. I’m trying to set up a situation where they have to talk to the person across from them. Both parties have to be very comfortable, and by the end they’re best friends.
I’ve worked in refugee resettlement for the last nine years and it’s only been in the last two years that getting a photo with a client is very difficult. They’re afraid to have their photos taken in the U.S. Before two years ago, they didn’t care about if they were getting a photo in the US. After recent events, if one of our refugees wants a selfie, then I know my job has been done.
D: Let’s talk about tonight’s event.
Villarreal: This is our second annual Force for Change party. It’s a laid back way to have fun and spend an evening with like-minded people and see the different sponsors who are backing us up. It’s really cool seeing our sponsors TripAdvisor and Airbnb or Dallas’ local joints like Slow Bone barbecue really come behind our cause and believe in it. We have a short program on what we do. You’ll hear not only from myself but one of our refugee clients, who will be sharing their story and letting the audience know that this is what the IRC has done for me and this is what you as a GenR member are a part of and what you’re supporting. It’s to raise awareness, but also have a good time, and, most of all, to make money. We are definitely needing to raise much-needed funds for the Dallas’ refugee settlement program.
