Blog

By Carol Landau & Rebecca Garland   You might be surprised to learn that one of the largest groups of refugees we serve at Beautiful Day comes originally from the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRCongo). Unlike other countries such as Afghanistan, Ukraine and Haiti, the instability there does not attract many headlines. The country’s history is so complex that most news outlets find it easier to focus on other international crises that are more clearly defined. But while the underlying causes are not well-publicized, the mass exodus of millions of Congolese over the last 20 years makes it obvious that...

by Carol Landau & Rebecca Garland Since Russia invaded Ukraine in February, 2022, over 8 million people, or 18% of the population, have fled the country. Approximately 282,000 have ended up in the US. As Beautiful Day welcomes Ukrainians into our adult and youth programs, it's important for all of us to stay informed about what's happening in their home country. This article lays out some of the stark facts. We all need to understand as much as we can in order to best support our new Ukrainian neighbors.  According to interviews conducted by NPR, CBS News and the Washington...

Now, a year later, the headlines are largely gone. Public attention has waned, partly eclipsed by the crisis in Ukraine and partly the result of seeing that efforts to support Afghans may involve commitments that last years, rather than months. The simple reality is that it takes a long time to rebuild a life, and unfortunately, this is particularly true for many resettled Afghans.

It’s a privilege to be sitting here with Patricia Stevens, one of Beautiful Day’s Youth Program Mentors. Patricia has been volunteering for us for a short time, but already has had a tremendous impact on the youth whom she is mentoring. Patricia has been a tax preparer for 22 years and is living with her husband on the West Side of Providence.

We tried very hard to keep our prices the same. But, we had to make the difficult decision to raise our prices to keep up with rising costs. As always, our goal is to continue to serve quality granola and coffee, and we want you to know how much we appreciate you as our customers. We feel honored to be doing this work, and we deeply appreciate everyone for sticking with us, our products, and our staff and trainees during this inflationary period.

After being scattered across the city, we recently moved to a brand new space where all our operations are under one roof. We love it. For the very first time, we are literally “home for the holidays.” But to be honest, we don’t feel completely at home there yet. Everything is still so new. Maybe this is appropriate since we work with refugees who have left behind everything that’s familiar. They experience profound disruption and isolation as they struggle to adjust to a new culture with strange traditions like pine trees in the living room and a fat man in...