Refugee News | Exodus Refugee

Summer 2024 Internship Reflections

08/16/2024 Exodus offers many incredible internship opportunities across many different departments to learn about the refugee resettlement process and gain hands-on experience in non-profit work. We asked a few of […]

Staff Spotlight: Legal Assistants

3/29/24 Meet our Legal Assistants Sarah (SC), Sammi (SM), and Qahar (QB)! Our Legal Assistants help our Legal team run efficiently and ensure that client needs are being met. We […]

Staff Spotlight: Zoe Zollman

Zoe Zollman joined Exodus in January 2023! She is celebrating her one year anniversary of helping refugees arrive here in our community. As the Bloomington office’s Pre-Arrival & Housing […]

12/6/23 Meet the Butler-Tarkington Community Support Team! They were a team of friends who live in the Butler-Tarkington neighborhood. They were matched with a family from the Democratic Republic of […]

Meet Khin Sain, Women’s Program Coordinator. Khin, (also known as Ma Kim) oversees our Women’s Program and Women’s Sewing Circles! To celebrate Khin’s 10-year anniversary working at Exodus, we asked […]

Staff Spotlight: Renee Miller

Meet Renee Miller, our Community Engagement Coordinator in Bloomington! Renee works with our volunteers, interns and does outreach in the Bloomington community! Renee has been a huge help in helping […]

4/28/2023 Meet some of our LCORE volunteers, Liana, Mary Beth, Sharon and Francia! These volunteers have been working with our LCORE team to help teach English classes and help update […]

4/15/23 Meet one of our former Community Support Teams, Crawfordsville ARC! Our Community Support Teams volunteer for a 3-to-6-month period. After being matched with a client family, they help Exodus […]

Staff Spotlight: Patrick Lines

2/13/23 Meet Patrick Lines, Pre-Arrival Associate at Exodus! Patrick helps to coordinate information about clients arriving to Indianapolis, and makes sure we have all the information we need to be […]

January 13, 2023 Lilly Endowment Inc. has made a $1.2 million grant to Exodus Refugee Immigration to […]

11/7/22 Meet one of our Community Support Teams, Good Samaritan Episcopal Church! Our Community Support Teams volunteer for a 3-to-6-month period. After being matched with a client family, they help […]

Meet Chelsea Davey, Director of Extended Services. Chelsea oversees our Preferred Community, Refugee Health Promotion, Women’s, Mental Wellness Programs and more! To celebrate Chelsea’s 10-year anniversary working at Exodus, we […]

8/8/2022 Meet one of our Community Support Teams, Indy Community Yoga. Our Community Support Teams (which were previously called co-sponsor groups) volunteer for 3 to 6 months. After being matched […]

7/10/22 Meet Macy Hill, our Pre-Arrival/Housing Associate in Bloomington! 1. Tell us a little about yourself. I am a 2021 graduate from Malone University with a bachelor’s degree in Communication […]

5/29/22 Meet Grace Clark, one of our staff in our new Bloomington office! Tell us a little about yourself. I moved to Bloomington in February. I have lived abroad and […]

5/24/2022 Meet Kari Moore, Director of Self-Sufficiency Programs. Kari oversees many of the services at Exodus, including our LCORE and Employment programs. To celebrate Kari’s 10-year anniversary working at Exodus, […]

Volunteer Spotlight: Zakaria

5/12/22 Meet Zakaria El Kohli, a Teen Mentor volunteer at Exodus! Zakaria moved to the US from Morocco 5 years ago and settled in Indianapolis. He’s been working in the […]

5/5/22 Meet Erin Aquino, our Bloomington Resettlement Director. Erin started at the beginning of this year, and has been leading our new resettlement office in Bloomington, IN. We asked Erin […]

Volunteer Spotlight: Mary Jo

4/29/22 Meet Mary Jo, a dedicated volunteer at Exodus Refugee. Mary Jo can often be found working at the front desk, taking calls, answering questions, and helping clients reach the […]

Volunteer Spotlight: Betsy and Vicki

4/19/2022 Meet Betsy and Vicki, two sisters who volunteer at Exodus Refugee. Betsy and Vicki have always looked for meaningful ways to be active in the community, and pre-COVID had […]

6/17/2021 Meet Rachel Van Tyle. Rachel is our new Director of Legal Services, and she joined the team earlier this year. Rachel leads our Legal Services Program in advising and […]

Volunteer Spotlight: Marissa Renaldi

Meet Marissa Renaldi. Marissa has been a youth mentor since 2020, and she has been a great friend and mentor to her mentee. We are grateful for volunteers like her […]

Volunteer Spotlight: Elise Durell

4/26/2021 Meet Elise Durell. Elise has been teaching English classes at Exodus for many years, and we are so grateful for her commitment and kindness. 1. Why did you choose […]

Volunteer Spotlight: John Binhack

4/22/2021 We are grateful for volunteers like John Binhack who make a difference in the lives of refugee youth. John was paired with his mentee, Patrick, in 2020 as part […]

March 29, 2021 Out of respect for the client’s privacy, this blog post does not have any photos and does not use the name of the client, only initials. S.H.B. […]

Top 10 Moments of 2020

1/28/2021 2020 was a year filled with many unexpected challenges. The way we delivered services during the COVID-19 health crisis looked different, but our dedication to our families remained the […]

1/28/2021 Meet Yaza Swe. Yaza has recently been promoted to Manager of Employment Program, and he has been at Exodus for 10 years. As the Manager of Employment, Yaza works […]

1/28/2021 1.Tell us about yourself. I am the eldest daughter of Dominican immigrants. My parents immigrated to New York City from the Dominican Republic two years before I was born. […]

Meet Dian Krueger, Case Coordinator

1/28/2020 Meet Dian Krueger. Dian is our Case Coordinator in our new Services for Asylum Seekers program. Dian believes in the values of human life and social justice to improve […]

Meet Kyle Walker. Kyle has joined the Exodus team as an AmeriCorps Public Ally member. She will be serving at Exodus for 10 months in the youth program. 1. Tell […]

Meet Katherine Boyles. Katherine has joined the Exodus team as an AmeriCorps Public Ally member. She will be serving at Exodus for 10 months in the volunteer program. 1. Tell […]

A Warm Welcome During a Pandemic

When Kaboba Kalonda and his family first heard about COVID-19, they were worried about only one thing – that their long-held dream of resettlement in the U.S. was over. “So […]

A Letter from our Executive Director

June 20, 2020 Dear Friends of Exodus, Held annually on June 20th, World Refugee Day honors the courage and resilience of refugees across the globe and calls for us to stand, […]

Volunteer Spotlight: Jacob Dalton

We are grateful for volunteers like Jacob Dalton who make a difference in the lives of refugees. Jacob has been teaching English classes at the Exodus office for over 18 […]

Monthly Donor Spotlight: Rachel Vaughn

We are grateful for the generosity of our monthly donors who make our work possible. Meet Rachel Vaughn. She was a former youth mentor volunteer and has been a loyal […]

Volunteer Spotlight: Jenny Tomlinson

We are grateful for volunteers like Jenny Tomlinson who make a difference in the lives of refugees. Jenny has been teaching English classes at the Exodus office since November 2019 […]

6/15/2020 Saturday, June 20, 2020 is World Refugee Day, a time when we honor the courage and resilience of refugees–recognizing the hardships they have faced, the new lives they have […]

Movies and Documentaries

Stay connected with Exodus during this time of social distancing by watching movies or documentaries about refugees and asylees. Amazon Prime After Spring Two filmmakers witness the Syrian refugee crisis […]

Podcast Recommendations

Stay connected with Exodus during this time of social distancing by listening to podcasts about the stories of refugees. We have compiled a list of some of our favorite podcasts. […]

As the Women’s Program Case manager, Khin Sain provides case management, trainings, and social integration activities for some of our most vulnerable refugee women. She is also an accomplished musician […]

5/20/2020 Meet Megan Hochbein. Megan is the Director of Operations at Exodus, and she is celebrating 10 years with us! Megan started off at Exodus as the Volunteer Coordinator, and […]

English Class Goes Virtual

It’s so important to maintain connections during this time of social distancing, and our teaching team has been able to do that using WhatsApp, a video chat technology that many […]

1. Why did you choose to volunteer at Exodus? Dennis: Having moved to Indianapolis within the past year, Emma Sue and I were looking for opportunities to serve in the […]

Faith, Family and Service

4/24/2020 I first came across Exodus on a google search when I moved to Indiana nearly 13 years ago. It might have been yahoo back then. In any case, I […]

C-CERF Awarded to Exodus Refugee

April 7, 2020 Exodus is excited to announce that we have been selected as one of the recipients for the Central Indiana COVID-19 Community Economic Relief Fund. We have been […]

The way we deliver services during the COVID-19 health crisis may look different, but our commitment to the refugee community remains the same. With Governor Holcomb’s recent order to shelter in […]

1. Tell us a little bit about yourself? I grew up in Karachi, Pakistan and lived in Canada before moving to the USA more than a decade ago. I started […]

Book Recommendations

Stay connected with Exodus during this time of social distancing by reading about the refugee and immigrant experience. We have compiled a list of some of our favorite books for […]

Exodus Updates Regarding COVID-19

Dear Friends of Exodus, As the world responds to the COVID-19 global pandemic, Exodus is committed to serving the most vulnerable—while also doing what we can to help slow the […]

We are delighted to welcome Danielle Schneider-Moran, Exodus’ new Mental Wellness Coordinator. 1. Tell us a little about yourself. I have over 10 years of experience working with diverse individuals […]

Meet Board Member Michael Leppert

Meet Michael Leppert. Michael joined our board in January 2020, and we are thrilled to have him on the board. 1. Tell us a little bit about yourself? I am a […]

My Internship Experience by Anna Ward

February 25, 2020 Pictured above: 2019 Fall Interns: Helmi Khosyi, Sarah Kilbarger-Stumpff, and Anna Ward In the four months I have interned at Exodus Refugee Immigration, I have been so […]

Originally published in the Indianapolis Business Journal’s Forefront on 1.24.20 In stark contrast to his predecessor, Governor Holcomb has taken both the humanitarian and the practical approach to a global […]

Volunteer Spotlight: Seth McManus

We are grateful for volunteers like Seth McManus who make a difference in the lives of refugee youth. Seth was paired with his mentee, Alle, in 2019 as part of […]

On September 26, President Trump issued an Executive Order requiring Governors and local officials to provide letters of consent to opt in or out of refugee resettlement. We are proud to share […]

In a conference room at the Exodus office, four women sit around a table. They are elders, Congolese grandmothers who have ridden for an hour on the bus to come […]

Top 10 Moments of 2019

As the year comes to an end, we reflect back on favorite moments in 2019: 1. We welcomed 394 courageous refugee newcomers from 11 different countries, including new nationalities, such […]

2019 Refugee of the Year: Fikiri Nkulwe

Fikiri is a refugee from the Democratic Republic of the Congo, and he was resettled by Exodus in October 2016 with this three children. From his first moments in Indianapolis, […]

2019 Employer of the Year: Aramark

Exodus began placing clients with Aramark in January of 2019. Since then, our staff has been very impressed with the level of commitment and care Aramark has shown to our […]

Megan has been volunteering at Exodus since 2017. She started off as a youth mentor for one of our young ladies from the Democratic Republic of the Congo. Megan developed […]

Our Community Partner of 2019 is Second Presbyterian Church. Members from Second Presbyterian have been involved with Exodus since January 2018. They helped Exodus welcome one of our largest […]

This Giving Tuesday, you can give the gift of a warm welcome to refugee families in Indiana. Here are 5 ways to show your love and support on Dec. 3 […]

“Before I started counseling there was a darkness and it was hard to breathe. After we started talking, even if the problem didn’t change, I have changed for the […]

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE September 27, 2019 INDIANAPOLIS – Yesterday, the Trump Administration released its plan to cut refugee resettlement to a devastating 18,000 individuals in the coming year. After two […]

“The resilience I have seen in the people we serve is unmatched and a constant source of inspiration. I am truly lucky to be a part of this work.” […]

Nature Helps Refugee Youth Heal

Time spent enjoying nature can be deeply therapeutic, and the refugee youth who joined their mentors this month for an ecotherapy-inspired evening outdoors can attest to that. Exodus’ Youth Program […]

“Every day is a good memory for me because I love interacting with clients, and I love meeting new families.” Meet Fung Mang. He is a full-time driver at […]

Meet Kofi: Youth Mentor

For the last six months, Kofi Darku has mentored Congolese teens Aron and Simon as part of our Youth Mentor program. The program pairs youth ages 13 – 23 with […]

Mentor Program Empowers Teens

Refugee youth are in a unique position within their family. They often adapt more quickly than their parents to the culture and language of their new country. Yet, they are […]

A Joyful Family Reunion

Liyema arrived in Indianapolis with her baby daughter Sarah in April 2017, leaving behind her mom and five sisters in a Zambian refugee camp. Her first year in the U.S. was […]

Proud To Be an American

On June 21st, 2018, one of our very own case managers, Ally became a United States Citizen. In honor of International Day of Peace and Citizenship Day that was earlier […]

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE September 18, 2018 INDIANAPOLIS – Exodus Refugee Immigration is outraged by the Trump Administration’s decision to set the annual refugee admissions goal at just 30,000 individuals, an […]

Exodus Refugee Immigration is appalled by the Trump Administration’s policy to separate children from their families at our southern border. Not only is this practice inhumane, it runs against decades […]

Welcome Team Spotlight: The Gate

For Volunteer Appreciation Month, we appreciate all of our Welcome Teams for welcoming refugees to Indianapolis. Welcome Teams partner with Exodus to assist a refugee family with adjusting to life […]

Volunteer Spotlight: Jess McGuire

For National Volunteer Month, we appreciate all of our volunteers for their commitment to making Indianapolis a welcoming city for refugees. We would like to highlight Jess McGuire who has […]

Volunteer Spotlight: Georgina Schneider

For National Volunteer Month, we appreciate all of our volunteers for their commitment to making Indianapolis a welcoming city for refugees. We would like to highlight Georgina Schneider, who has […]

On International Women’s Day, March 8, we honor the courage, strength, and resilience of refugee women like Almaz. Before being resettled in Indianapolis, Almaz was surrounded by corruption and […]

A year ago, Syrian refugees Shereen and Fathi carried fear in their hearts and their nine-year old son Jowan in their arms. Today, the family is safe in their Indianapolis home, Jowan has access to medical care, including a wheelchair, and the only thing they carry is freedom. “The independence and safety I’ve seen here, we’ve never seen back home. By living in Indianapolis, we have seen the best.”

This year, we piloted a Teen Women’s program for our young ladies from a variety of countries. The overall goal of the program was to empower refugee girls and young […]

Learning from my Elders

What refugees have to teach us “Arm. Armmmmm.” I repeat the word slowly, exaggerating the ending “m” sound as my elderly Congolese student mimics me. His facial muscles contort as […]

Our Missing Refugee Neighbors

A letter from our Executive Director Cole Varga regarding the latest Executive Order. On January 30th of this year, one of our Syrian refugee families was anticipating the arrival of their relatives here in Indianapolis through the refugee program. These relatives in Jordan were packing their belongings and saying their goodbyes. However, with the signing of an Executive Order just a few days before their travel date, they were told…

Global Women’s Friendship Dinner

When we share a meal together, we are not just feeding our empty stomachs, but also feeding our minds and fueling our hearts. The dinner table is a simple reminder […]

Iraqi Pursues Dream Job at JW Marriott

A pivotal moment in a refugee’s new life in the United States is securing his or her first job. For Ramee, whose family fled persecution in Iraq, the JW Marriott […]

In Them I See My Own Family

March 23, 2017 The door swings wide, and I am greeted with open arms and a brilliant smile. Mamma K, an older Syrian woman, pulls me in close for a […]

Exodus is grateful for the many community partners who make our work possible. Starting as a small family business in 2003, the Morales Group has quickly grown into a thriving source of employment in Indianapolis, and we're so lucky to have their support.

Communities thrive on compassion. Exodus has a long history of welcoming refugees and asylees from many countries, cultures, languages, faiths, and political opinions. We began in 1981 with the mission to serve the legal needs of immigrants and Cuban refugees, who had arrived as part of the Mariel boatlift in 1980.

John Green welcomed a Burmese family and filmed their reunion of the husband reuniting with his wife after four years and meeting his four-year-old son for the first time.

A press conference with ACLU, MAI (Muslim Alliance of Indiana) and Exodus Refugee Immigration was held at Exodus denouncing the 2.0 Muslim Travel Ban. Read more at Indiana Public Media.

Exodus Refugee has continued to welcome and serve welcome refugees even though Mike Pence tried to stop them. Lababidi family was the first Syrian family Exodus welcomed in October 2014 […]

#RefugeesWelcome

Dear Friends of Refugees, On Friday, President Trump signed an Executive Order that delivered a major blow to the refugee resettlement program. It is an unprecedented action in our nation’s […]