One half of our offering will benefit a local organization called Refugee Women Rising (RWR). RWR supports refugee women who have resettled in our Nebraska community, many right in our west Omaha neighborhoods, after fleeing violence and oppression in their home countries. RWR walks alongside refugees for “the long welcome."  Initial refugee resettlement support is only for 90 days in which newcomers must obtain housing, English classes, employment, school enrollment, and healthcare--mostly without fluency in English. This is where RWR steps in--to ensure that refugee women are empowered in culturally appropriate, free intentional programming. The gifts we gather for RWR on Christmas Eve will help women from around the world who find themselves in Omaha thrive and reach their full potential. You can learn much more at www.refugeewomenrising.org.

The other half of our offering will support One Child, Inc. (www.onechildinc.org) Founded in 2017, One Child, Inc. is an organization based in Omaha that was started by a man named Jon Driscoll. His wife and her family are Ukrainian, and they adopted two children from Ukraine. Jon started this nonprofit organization to provide material assistance to at-risk children in Ukraine and prevent human trafficking. When the war in Ukraine began, One Child, Inc. responded through whatever means necessary to provide sanctuary to women and children in Ukraine displaced by war and at risk for human trafficking. On Christmas Eve, we will support the women’s shelter run by One Child, Inc. in Odessa, Ukraine.