#Newsletter
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Oct. 23 Proclaimed ‘Islamic Relief USA Day’ by Harris County Commissioner
Proclamation made during the Grand Opening ceremony of IRUSA’s Houston facility and Day of Dignity event. The City of Houston has a lot going for it. A vibrant downtown, great diversity (Muslims will feel very welcome with its numerous halal restaurants and mosques), and relatively low gas prices (just $2.89 per gallon of regular unleaded at one Mobil station not too far from the George Bush Intercontinental Airport). Now, the city has something else to celebrate; a new Islamic Relief USA building. The nonprofit humanitarian and advocacy organization held a grand opening ceremony on Saturday, Oct. 23, for its new volunteer dormitory on Lee Road in North Houston. The facility…
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Behind the Vest: Emergency Response to Hurricane Ida
IRUSA’s own Araif Yusuff discusses Hurricane Ida relief August 2021: One of the most challenging disaster response months IRUSA has faced since the inception of our humanitarian mission and effort. On one hand, more than 500,000 Afghan refugees were suddenly displaced in Afghanistan or in foreign countries that were put on notice of their arrival just days before–they fled turmoil and increased violence that came on the heels of the U.S. withdrawal after 20 years in the country. On the other hand, category 4 Hurricane Ida slammed against the southern shores of America, with the gusto of the second most-damaging hurricane in Louisiana history. More than 1,000,000 people were left…
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IRUSA Rep Send Dispatch from the IFG20
IFG20 conference features triumphs and challenges recorded by IRUSA staff By Director Public Affairs Christina Tobias-Nahi WATCH WHAT A RELIEF POD INTERVIEW WITH DIRECTOR OF PUBLIC AFFAIRS CHRISTINA TOBIAS-NAHI HERE NOW The Interfaith G20 Summit “Time to Heal: Peace among Cultures, Understanding between Religions” took place in mid September in Bologna, Italy and IRUSA was proud to have not only been an advisor to the local organizer of this event FSCIRE (a research institution that publishes, trains, serves, organizes, welcomes and communicates research in the field of religious sciences, with particular regard to Christianity, Islam and the religions with which they have been in contact) but also an active participant…
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Volunteers Help Fight Hunger in Haiti
Hear firsthand how one of largest food packs went down By Volunteer Zeba Haseeb How many of us begin dreaming at a young age of all the things we want to achieve when we’re older? Some of us dream about careers and others about traveling all around the world and immense in different cultures. But how many of us can visualize a future for ourselves when the next meal we are having is uncertain. IRUSA has made it their top priority to not only help communities in need of meals, but also help the youth achieve their goals for a prosperous future. The school feeding programs specifically encourage children to…
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Distribution of Qurbani takes Main Stage
2021 IRUSA Qurbani food program sky rockets Islamic Relief USA is proud to say that in the year 2021 our community of donors raised the bar even higher distributing over 150,000 Qurbanis. In one single swoop, with an array of dedicated partners, more than 30 countries saw Qurbani arrive at the doorsteps of the most vulnerable. As more distributions continue even at home here in the U.S we look forward to hearing from those we were able to serve and all of you who gave with an open heart. Recovery for COVID-19 is an effort of mind, body, and soul. We have to continue to think of those who had…
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Venezuela in Crosshairs of Devastation
Public affairs reps attend forum for assessment of current crisis By Allison Brown, Intern in Communications and Public Affairs In conflicts of the past, Venezuela housed thousands of refugees fleeing throughout Latin America, providing a source of stability to neighboring countries during their periods of crisis. Due to recent political instability, Venezuela has experienced an 8,000% increase of Venezuelans seeking formal refugee status with an estimated population of 5.4 million fleeing to the neighboring countries of Columbia, Brazil, and Guyana. Reflecting upon this year’s World Refugee Day, refugees and internally displaced peoples of the Middle East and Northern Africa still remain large in Islamic Relief’s aid and thoughts, but an…
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Fighting Hunger and Inequalities in Food Access
Brown bag education series tackles a top priority By Konah Brownell, Intern in Communications and Public Affairs When it comes to addressing food insecurity, it’s not so much that we don’t have enough to go around. Rather, it has more to do with structural inequalities or inequities. That was the message from Dr. Laté Lawson-Lartego, an interim co-vice president of Global Programs at Oxfam, who was the featured guest in a virtual Islamic Relief USA “Brown Bag” webinar on Wednesday, July 7. “Poverty and food insecurity exist not because of the lack of resources or opportunity but because of inequality,” he said. During the one-hour session, Lawson-Lartego spoke about the…
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World Refugee Day 2021
Addressing the challenge to support refugees By Christina Tobias-Nahi According to the UN High Commission for Refugees 2022 Global Resettlement Needs Report released this month in recognition of World Refugee Day, for the sixth year in a row, Syrian refugees are among those with the highest resettlement needs, followed by refugees from the Democratic Republic of the Congo, South Sudan, Afghanistan, and Eritrea. As a result too of the pandemic, “many of those displaced are now faced with increased poverty, destitution and widespread protection risks, from exploitation, trafficking, sexual and gender-based violence, child labor, early marriage, to arrest, detention, deportation, and refoulement.” Islamic Relief USA has long worked tirelessly to…
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Women Entrepreneurs Graduate in VA
Dar al-Hijra graduates another class By Kara Brunson High achievers Islamic Relief USA sponsors the sewing academy, a program launched by Dar al-Hijrah Social Services, to support socio-economic development goals for the local community. Students become certified seamstresses upon completion of 100 hours of hands-on training in the 4-month program. Stacey Picard, Associate Director of Dar al-Hijrah Social Services and Tahhani Gibaran, Director of Dar al-Hijrah Social Services co-led Tuesday’s event, which was notable for a series of firsts. This spring cohort, the organization’s fifteenth since the academy launched eight years ago, was the first to attend the sewing academy in person since social-distancing restrictions were put in place last…
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IRUSA and FEMA Partner to Fight COVID
Houston becomes site for vaccination support by IRUSA Islamic Relief USA and the Federal Emergency Management Agency are on a mission to get as many people vaccinated as possible. IRUSA has teamed up with FEMA again, this time in Houston. For this week, IRUSA volunteers will help out at NRG Stadium (normally home to Houston Texans football team), which is serving as a mass vaccination site. People could choose vaccines from either Pfizer or Johnson & Johnson. The organization, along with SEWA International and the American Pharmacist Association, was part of a team of 14 volunteers. They helped out in various non-clinician tasks to ensure people were inoculated. Among them were…
