{"id":172945,"date":"2025-08-24T23:59:12","date_gmt":"2025-08-24T23:59:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/172945\/"},"modified":"2025-08-24T23:59:12","modified_gmt":"2025-08-24T23:59:12","slug":"bekinder-coffee-owner-builds-up-refugee-community-as-she-builds-business","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/172945\/","title":{"rendered":"BeKinder Coffee owner builds up refugee community as she builds business"},"content":{"rendered":"

When she was 13 years old, Jane Gow fled with her family to the United States during the fall of Saigon<\/a>. That collapse marked the end of the Vietnam War. <\/p>\n

Fifty years later, the former refugee is using her nonprofit shop, BeKinder Coffee, to help refugees and asylum-seekers build new lives in Dallas. <\/p>\n

\u201cOur work is 100% volunteer-driven,\u201d Gow said. \u201cEvery dollar goes straight back into our operations to support the refugees we serve.<\/p>\n

On Friday, as the coffee shop on Greenville Avenue<\/a> celebrated its one-year anniversary, Gow talked about what the organization has done in the past year, and she announced expansion plans. <\/p>\n

Breaking News<\/p>\n

Get the latest breaking news from North Texas and beyond.<\/p>\n

The smell of coffee and snacks filled the room as people filed in to celebrate the community that Gow has built through her coffee shop. <\/p>\n

\"From<\/p>\n

From left, Des Mora, Linda Trinh, Audrey Gow, and M Kuvet, at BeKinder Coffee, the nonprofit coffee shop founded by first-generation American and former refugee Jane Gow, as they had their first year celebration in Dallas, Texas, Friday, August 22, 2025. <\/p>\n

Anja Schlein \/ Special Contributor<\/p>\n

\u201cRefugees don\u2019t just seek safety,\u201d Gow said, while addressing the crowd during the event. \u201cThey bring resilience, skills and hope.\u201d <\/p>\n

Ahmed Hias, who came to the United States at the beginning of this year, started working at the coffee shop in March, he said. He is now a barista and team lead at BeKinder Coffee. <\/p>\n

Hias, a 21-year-old refugee from Iraq, said Gow not only gave him a job but also helped him get settled. <\/p>\n

\u201cI still remember the second day she came up to me and she told me that I could be who I am here \u2026 and she hugged me,\u201d he said. <\/p>\n

\"Ahmed<\/p>\n

Ahmed Hias makes crepes at BeKinder Coffee, the nonprofit coffee shop founded by first-generation American and former refugee Jane Gow, as they had their first year celebration in Dallas, Texas, Friday, August 22, 2025. <\/p>\n

Anja Schlein \/ Special Contributor<\/p>\n

Hias, whose dream job is to be a nurse like his mother, left his country because he felt he couldn\u2019t live freely as a gay man, he said. Since moving to the U.S., he has been able to live his truth. <\/p>\n

\u201cI can just go out, whatever I wear, whatever I do, nobody stares at me,\u201d Hias said. <\/p>\n

Hias said he loves his job as a barista at Gow\u2019s coffee shop and is now, with Gow\u2019s help, taking steps toward his education.<\/p>\n

Hias is among nine people Gow has helped. <\/p>\n

Sima Tahaan, a 26-year-old refugee from Afghanistan, has worked at BeKinder Coffee for two months as a baker. Tahaan, who has been taking English language classes with the organization\u2019s help, said she loves working with Gow. <\/p>\n

\u201cThis is my home,\u201d Tahaan said in a video compilation of employee testimonials that played at the event Friday. <\/p>\n

\"Sima<\/p>\n

Sima Tahaan at BeKinder Coffee, the nonprofit coffee shop founded by first-generation American and former refugee Jane Gow, as they had their first year celebration in Dallas, Texas, Friday, August 22, 2025. <\/p>\n

Anja Schlein \/ Special Contributor<\/p>\n

In fiscal year 2023, about 60,000 refugees arrived in the United States, and Texas topped the list of states with the highest number of arrivals, with about 5,000 people, according to a report by the U.S. Department of Homeland Security<\/a>. <\/p>\n

Afghanistan was third in the list of countries with the highest number of incoming refugees, while Iraq took the 10th position, the same report said. The Democratic Republic of the Congo and Syria topped the list. <\/p>\n

According to the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services website<\/a>, <\/b>a refugee is someone who:<\/p>\n