SPOKANE, Wash. — A local organization that works to support immigrants and refugees in Spokane is wondering about its future in the face of Trump’s recent executive orders.
World Relief Spokane is part of a global Christian organization that helps refugees and immigrants rebuild their lives in safe countries.
Since 1992, the World Relief Spokane has resettled over 11,000 refugees.
Executive Director, Christi Armstrong, said there is a lot of fear in Spokane’s refugee communities due to the Trump Administration’s pause on refugee resettlement into the U.S.
The organization said it was due to receive around 700 refugees over the next year.
The pause could also have a significant effect on the organization’s funding.
Much of World Relief’s funding is tied to how many refugees it works with in a year.
“We are certain that’s going to impact world relief in a big way,” Armstrong said.
World Relief Spokane said 85% of their funding comes from grants from the federal government or the state.
In the face of the uncertainty, World Relief Spokane still has dozens of refugees to help throughout the Inland Northwest.
“We have 177 people who are still in that one to 90 days of that resettlement period and just getting the basics under their feet, so there’s quite a few of them,” Armstrong said.
Armstrong said if their funding goes away permanently, the organization plans to call on it’s network of churches to help their cause.
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