Crowdfunding for our newest neighbors: immigrants and refugees

ioby was created to give residents and community-based organizations access to timely, right-sized funding for neighborhood projects. Over time, ioby has become the crowdfunding platform of choice for people across the country who are working to make their neighborhoods stronger, healthier, greener, and more connected.

Particularly since November 2016, ioby has been proud to work with several neighborhood leaders who are leading the effort to welcome and resettle refugees and immigrants in American cities. These campaigns exemplify what ioby has always known: communities are strongest when neighbors embrace and invest in each other.  

Pictured: ioby project Barrier Free–A Socially Engaged Art Installation

For centuries, our cities have been shaped and enlivened by the arrivals of immigrant and refugee communities. Now, as your neighborhood and city look for ways to welcome new neighbors, we invite you to take a look at ioby’s community of leaders for inspiration. Here are four projects, funded with ioby, that have helped to accept and acclimate refugees and immigrants from all over the world:

  • The Cleveland Refugee Bike Project, led by a group that provides refugees with bikes and training, giving them an economic lifeline that can connect them to new employment, educational, and social opportunities in Northeast Ohio.
  • Barrier Free, a socially engaged art installation designed by artist Yancy Villa-Calvo for Latino Memphis about the impact of barriers.
  • Refugee Translation Project, which provides free translation support for refugees seeking asylum in the New York metro area.
  • Gather to Talk, a structured conversation about the challenges immigrants face in Boulder, Colorado.

Have an idea or program to help welcome refugees and immigrants into your community? Go to ioby.org/idea and take the first step.