Interfaith Fundraiser Supports Lansing Area Refugees
The All Faith Alliance for Refugees will host a fundraiser Sunday, April 19, at Edgewood United Church of Christ, raising money for Catholic Charities of Ingham and Eaton Counties and its rental assistance program for Lansing-area refugees.
The fundraiser aims to close the gap left by a 2025 freeze by the Trump administration in federal funding for refugee resettlement.
Alice Fleming Townley, founder of the All Faith Alliance for Refugees or AFAR, told ELi that Lansing has historically been one of the most important refugee resettlement cities in the country.
“That affects our neighbors and threatens what has been a vital program that has strengthened our community,” she said.
According to Kwach Kwan Abwol, director of refugee services at Catholic Charities of Ingham and Eaton Counties, nearly 18,000 refugees from 61 countries have resettled in the Lansing area over the last 50 years.
Townley said AFAR meets monthly with faith leaders and refugee support agencies to identify their biggest needs. This was how the group learned about the rental assistance program put on by Catholic Charities.
“We have neighbors who are working,” Townley said, “often in entry-level jobs, and there used to be more support to help them reestablish their lives here. These are people who have fled war and violence, coming through the State Department and the United Nations Refugee Resettlement Program.”
Rev. Ben Rumbaugh, pastor of cooperative ministry at Delta Presbyterian Church and First Presbyterian Church of Dimondale, said this is one small way people can support their refugee neighbors.
“This is an interfaith effort,” he said. “Jesus said in Matthew 25 to welcome the stranger, feed the hungry, give drink to the thirsty and care for the sick. Those are core values for Christians.”
The panel will include Imam Sohail of the Islamic Center of East Lansing, Rabbi Amy Bigman of Congregation Shaarey Zedek of East Lansing and Rev. Kristen Strobel from Eastminster Presbyterian Church of East Lansing. Townley said the panel will speak about why support for refugees matters across faith traditions.
“There will also be a speaker from the refugee community sharing his story about being resettled in Lansing, which will be very powerful,” she added. A Sudanese immigrant who sought refuge in the Lansing area more than two decades ago will also speak about their experience and snacks from Noosh Afghan Cuisine in Lansing, a refugee-owned restaurant, will be served.
Townley said that last month, Jewish congregations in East Lansing and Lansing held a joint refugee Shabbat, inviting the director of refugee services at Catholic Charities to speak and raising money for rental assistance.
“Our hope is to inspire more events like that,” she said. “It’s an action people can take. When I feel overwhelmed by the news, I can feel powerless—but this is a way to reclaim agency.”
The fundraiser runs from 3 to 5 p.m. Sunday at Edgewood United Church of Christ in East Lansing. Those who can’t attend are invited to give online at CatholicCharitiesIEC.org.