Photography by Kevin A. Roberts
Tea lights cast a soft glow at Meshuggah Café, creating a far different atmosphere than during the day, when bright rays stream through the windows of the popular Delmar Loop café. Tables have been pushed together to form one long communal tabletop, with flowers in small vases lending an elegant touch. When the final place setting is laid, Meshuggah owner Jen Kaslow and Welcome Neighbor STL founder Jessica Bueler step back to ensure that everything is ready.
The first couple arrives. Bueler quickly greets them, and Kaslow offers glasses of wine. More guests trickle in, shaking hands and making polite conversation. Finally, the kitchen doors open, and the scents of sumac and cardamom waft through the air. Mawda Altayan and her husband, Mohi Aldeen Alhomowi, their three children in tow, carry in stacked foil containers. Guests take their seats in a shared sense of anticipation.
The dinner is just one way in which Welcome Neighbor STL is helping local refugees. The organization came together organically, in 2016, when Bueler organized a toiletry and coat drive. The response was overwhelming, with volunteers hoping to do more than just donate goods, so Bueler invited them to join her in distributing the items.
The group created a Facebook page and continued looking for ways to assist refugees, or “new Americans,” as the group refers to them. Volunteers have helped refugees move into new homes and provided translators for such tasks as buying a new cell phone. The ways in which Welcome Neighbor STL helps continue to unfold organically.
“We started with 50 volunteers. Then we had 100,” Bueler says. “Now we have more than 1,200 people involved.”
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Photo by Kevin A. Roberts
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The group goes beyond offering services; it builds relationships. There have been picnics with water balloon fights, Thanksgiving potluck dinners, and a Christmas party with an Arabic-speaking Santa. One volunteer has become so close with Altayan’s family that she attends school events in the role of a grandparent.
The organization’s Supper Club has also provided a way for refugee women “to earn an income in an environment where they typically couldn’t,” Bueler says. One or more refugee women prepare the dinners, which patrons pay to attend, with all proceeds going to the women and their families. So far, there have been 27 dinners, raising more than $41,000 for refugee families.
And the Supper Club continues to grow. Soon, the organizers plan to cater a wedding. “We are always looking for additional events,” Bueler says.
The organization is also planning to recruit more cooks from the refugee community. “We are going to start recruiting refugee cooks from additional countries other than only Syria and Iraq,” Bueler says. “I have been wanting to expand our focus, but the organization exploded so fast that we had to work on the logistics and the organizational structure.”
As the dinner wraps up and plates of baklava are passed down the table, Bueler shares a few words about the organization. Altayan then thanks everyone for welcoming her family to St. Louis. Moving here was very difficult, she says, until she met Bueler. Everyone applauds, appreciative of their meals and impressed with Altayan’s English. She stands with her family and smiles.
Visit welcomeneighborstl.com to find out about upcoming events and ways to get involved. and upcoming events.
