Homeira and Julia Bring Ukraine, Afghanistan To New Haven by the New Haven Independent
When Siawash reads the once-unsent letters that his mom wrote to him while she was living in exile and he was a child in Afghanistan, he isn’t filled with sorrow. “Every time I read the letters my mom wrote to me, I see that history repeats and repeats,” Siawash said before a crowd in Yale’s Dwight Hall. “I have hope for […]
Maternal Health Support Soars At The Q by the New Haven Independent
From a table crammed with leaflets in the gymnasium at the Dixwell Community “Q” House, Sharnasia Booker watched a circus artist perform gravity-defying stunts on an aerial hoop, seemingly leaping through the air and taking flight — a representation of what young mothers and their children can do with the right support. Booker, a participant in a […]
Elena’s Light on MSNBC
Hundreds of millions of people are celebrating Thanksgiving, but for 22,000 refugees relocated to the United States through the UN Refugee Agency, this will be their first time. Ann O’Brien and Fereshteh Ganjavi from the Integrated Refugee and Immigration Service join Ali Velshi to discuss. Read the full article on MSNBC.
A North Haven refugee learned in a secret basement school, now she’s teaching others
NORTH HAVEN — As a young Afghan girl, Fereshteh Ganjavi was thirsty for education. She loved to learn, but she was not allowed to go to school. Her father, seeing her passion and the need for education, made a fake ID so she could attend classes in the country where they were refugees. Then they […]
New Haven nonprofits prepare for influx of Afghan refugees
Over the next year, nearly 1,000 Afghan refugees are set to arrive in Connecticut, many to New Haven. Chris George, the executive director of Integrated Refugee and Immigration Services, said at a Monday press conference that the organization expects refugee arrivals to be spread throughout the coming year. Alongside George, New Haven Mayor Justin Elicker, […]
Humanizing the word “refugee”
Unpacked: Refugee Baggage is a multimedia art installation project that sculpturally re-creates rooms, homes, buildings and landscapes that have suffered the ravages of war. Each installation is embedded with the voices and stories of real people — from Afghanistan, Congo, Syria, Iraq and Sudan — who have escaped those same rooms and buildings to build a new life […]
Two local organizations partner to distribute PPE to 56 refugee families
On Saturday, 14 volunteers from Elena’s Light and PPE4ALL drove from house to house distributing masks, face shields and disinfectant products to refugee families across the greater New Haven area. Volunteers gathered in the parking lot of the North Haven Stop & Shop on Saturday morning to pick up bags of personal protective equipment from […]
Crossing Borders with Anjali
Elena’s Light Founder and Executive Director, Fereshteh Ganjavi was featured on Crossing Borders, a feature on 103.5WNHH, where she discusses her experience as a refugee and her work with Elena’s Light.
New Non-Profit Aims to Teach Immigrant Women
America is known as the land of the free and home of the brave. But, for some refugee and immigrant women, a new country with a new language and rules can be very tough to navigate. Elena’s Light was born from this very issue. The organization focuses on educating immigrant and refugee women on the […]
