One of the first actions President Trump took when he entered the White House for his second term was to stop the arrival of refugees to U.S. shores.
Now, the New York Times is reporting, his administration has plans to cut refugee admissions to record lows, reserving most of the slots for white Afrikaners from South Africa.
Historically, Arizona has received some of the highest numbers of refugees in the country, and a local program is helping refugees learn a new skill – and find a new community.
Shop Refugee teaches refugee women how to sew — and then sells their goods, giving them the profits. Sewing Manager Michelle Rogers and intern Allie Flynt joined The Show.
Full conversation
LAUREN GILGER: OK. So you have women refugees from all over the world, it sounds like, who come to this class, and it’s grown quite a bit since then, it sounds like, right?
ROGERS: Yes, it has. So we are first a training program. We are targeted towards refugee women who want to further their skills and some sort of job training. And we’re unique to job training because our demographic is stay-at-home refugee mothers, and they don’t have a lot of time and resources to go to a full job training program. So this program is accessible to them because we offer one to two days, English classes and sewing classes in the morning, and we provide childcare for both of them.
GILGER: Wow, so childcare is an important part of that. I know, I have kids. That’s great. So you bring in these women, you teach them this skill, and then the way this is set up, right, like with donated materials, etc. they get to keep almost all the profits.
ROGERS: Correct. So we depend solely on donated fabrics, materials that we then are able to create unique items because these are materials that people have probably had around in their house for a few years and so they’re older, but that means they’re better. And so because everything is donated and we have zero cost, we are able to give the women 95% back of the purchase price to supplement their family income in a small way. And it’s a place of community for them to find friendship and community with others that are possibly from their country, but also to make American friendships. Refugees connected with an American friend have a higher success rate.
GILGER: Yeah. So, you’re teaching a skill, you’re giving them a little supplemental income, but it sounds like it’s about community much more.
ROGERS: It’s about friendship.
GILGER: It’s about friendship. A lot of these women know each other and live in the same communities, right? And, and many are from, it sounds like Afghanistan?
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Michelle Rogers
Michelle Rogers, sewing manager, Shop Refugee
ROGERS: Yes, they could live in the same community. We have right now in class, our largest percentage is from Afghanistan. We have a few from Myanmar, Iraq, and one from Ethiopia.
GILGER: Wow, OK. So tell us a little bit about what this class is like, Allie, you, you’re interning there, you’re kind of volunteering, getting to know this. You didn’t sew before, but you’re learning. Tell us a little bit about bringing all these women in and helping with this. What’s it like?
ALLIE FLYNT: Yeah, I think a big part of why I enjoy volunteering with Shop Refugee is just the diversity of women from all different cultures, all different languages are being spoken, and different ages. And it really is just such a loving community, and we get to just be with them as they learn this skill. I’m an intern, and I’ve never really sewn before. I’m really just there to be their friend and encourage them along the way.
GILGER: How do you get over the language barrier here? I’m assuming there are many different languages being spoken in that room.
FLYNT: Yeah, it is kind of chaotic sometimes, but it is kind of empowering to empower women who speak the same language to translate for each other and also just communicating not through words, but just through things like you get creative. And just the love shows through, and just being with them, your presence is really meaningful to these women.
GILGER: Yeah, spending the time. Tell us some of the stories of some of these women that you’ve met and been able to make friends with over the years.
FLYNT: Yeah, so I’m really close with a lot of refugee women, and they are just so loving and so hospitable, and it’s just almost aggressive hospitality sometimes. They just really take us in, which is amazing because we’re here to welcome them to the United States, but really they’re welcoming us into their families and their homes. And I have several refugee women who call me their daughter, their granddaughter, their sister, and so it’s really amazing.
GILGER: I mean, it sounds like I’m sure, especially coming from a place like Afghanistan, people who have gotten refugee status here have been through a lot. Did you always sew, Michelle?
ROGERS: I have always sewn, yes.
GILGER: Why? What do you like about it?
ROGERS: I have a long line of seamstresses in my family. It’s been passed down. We’ve been sewing and quilting since very young. So there’s a number of things I enjoy about it. And I think it’s the same thing that the ladies enjoy about it is you get to create something from nothing. That’s always rewarding. You find like-minded other creators, and you get to have relationships with them and talk about your craft.
GILGER: All kinds of benefits.
ROGERS: All kinds of benefits.
GILGER: So, what was it like for you kind of taking those skills you already had in sewing and applying them in this way and kind of creating this community of women?
ROGERS: Yeah, so when you teach them some of these skills, you see the connection right away, and the excitement that they have as they get to create something, and it has purpose outside of just a hobby. It can grow into a business for themselves, or they could get a job at a local business.
GILGER: And you’ve had some women do that, right? Like, be able to take these skills and go get another job.
ROGERS: We have. We have referred a few women to some of our connections. It’s my goal to have them learn from scratch. So we start with making our own pattern, and then they create it and then they have that to keep. And then they go ahead and make the product, and we have different stages of products from beginner to advanced.
And when they’ve mastered that product and done it two or three times without help, then we give them materials to go home with and then they can work on their own time. And then the best part is they bring us back products, and they’re so proud to come in and show us the items they’ve created this week. And then I take pictures of them and list them online for them.
GILGER: Yeah. Let me ask you a little bit about the thing that strikes me about this is that it’s like this little thing, right? Like it’s not a full-time career for a lot of these women. It’s not a ton of money, but it sounds like it’s really rewarding for them.
ROGERS: Yes, it is, and I think it’s the same thing for them as it was for me. My grandmas sew. And I sewed a quilt with them, and I think they maybe have that connection as well at home and they no longer have that. They’ve left their families, many of them. And so they’re making new connections, new community, and it’s just a really great bond to have in sewing circle. And it’s like a lot of our grandmas went to a sewing circle and quilting bees, and we were kind of bringing that back.
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