Monday Chat | Aug 18, 2025
📌 Question: “Where Do I Start Helping Newcomers?” What every supporter and funder wants to know but rarely gets told before they step in.
Welcome to Monday Chat. Each week I set aside this space for those who want practical guidance on how to stand with newcomers. I use this time to respond to questions that come in during the week and to give clear, actionable steps for those who want to help. Think of it as a coffee table where we sit down together, review what is at hand, and decide how to move forward.
I focus on creating pathways that make it easier for people to move forward in a new setting. My goal is to raise a community of newcomers who are strong, informed, and prepared for their next steps.
I begin by entering their lives, listening, and building trust. I walk with them through trauma, helping them heal and find strength again. As stability grows, I guide them toward safe transition options and prepare them for what lies ahead.
Community integration is not the starting point. It is the final step of a long and difficult journey. Along the way, I make information clear and open so newcomers know their choices, and so the public knows how to act with them.
Check out my coaching resources for the wider newcomer community. My vision is to reach over 50 million people, because setting higher goals pushes us further. The goal is simple: to coach newcomers to take their own first steps, build confidence, and help themselves rather than waiting on others.
Back at our coffee session, I often hear people ask me, “I want to serve newcomers, but where do I even start?” It is an honest question. Many people feel the pull to help but get stuck in the size of the problem. The newcomer crisis is vast, and the needs show up in different ways depending on where you live. But the truth is, you do not need to do everything. You only need to start somewhere. Let me walk you through the main areas where people serve and why they matter, because once you understand the different roles, you will see there is a place for you.
Education and Language Support
Language is the first door to belonging.
Without it, newcomers cannot study, work, or live with confidence.
A bus schedule becomes a barrier. A school form becomes a wall.
Volunteers make the difference. They teach English, tutor children, guide parents.
Even translation lifts silence into participation.
When newcomers find their voice, everything else becomes possible.
Health and Medical Support
Newcomers often arrive with untreated illness and deep trauma.
Health systems are confusing. Many do not know where to begin.
Doctors and nurses are vital, but volunteers matter too.
Helping with forms. Guiding through appointments. Leading small wellness groups.
Mental health needs are heavy. Relief can come through a walk, a safe circle, or shared stories.
Healing bodies and spirits is the foundation for rebuilding.
Social Support and Integration
Starting over is overwhelming.
Finding housing, work, schools, and daily routines is hard.
Loneliness makes it worse.
Community eases that weight.
A shared meal. A ride on the bus together. Help at the grocery store.
These simple acts tell newcomers they are not invisible.
Step by step, strangers become neighbors.
Community Outreach and Advocacy
Personal kindness matters, but it is not enough.
Newcomers need public support too.
Advocacy shapes attitudes and policy.
Outreach fills urgent needs like food, clothing, and donations.
Letters to leaders, community events, workplace talks.
Small actions add up.
When voices multiply, systems shift.
Professional Assistance
Paperwork and interviews drain families.
Waiting is long. The process is complex.
Lawyers help, but they are few.
Volunteers ease the load by organizing files, interpreting, or standing alongside in appointments.
Professional support clears the path from uncertainty to stability.
Arts, Music, and Recreation
Life cannot be only survival.
Children need play. Adults need space to breathe.
Art, music, and sports bring healing.
A soccer game builds belonging.
An art class gives voice where words fall short.
Joy restores dignity.
Sustainable Livelihoods and Skills Training
Work creates stability.
But many newcomers’ skills are not recognized in their new country.
Job training, resume help, and mentorship open doors.
Farming projects feed families. Networks lead to opportunity.
What feels small to you, like teaching a resume or sharing contacts, can change a future.
Livelihood brings more than income.
It brings dignity and hope.
Key Places and Ways to Serve
The focus of newcomer support differs depending on the region. In Europe and the Middle East, the emphasis often falls on language learning, psychosocial support, and cultural integration. In Africa, the weight leans toward agriculture, community health, and education because of the scale of displacement. In North America, the challenge is often integration into housing, work, and schools. And in the digital space, opportunities exist for tutoring, translation, fundraising, or advocacy without leaving your home. Every location has its unique needs, and every volunteer can find a way to contribute. But no matter where you serve, one question always comes up: do I have the right background? That leads to who can volunteer.
Who Can Volunteer?
Back to our question today, “Where Do I Start Helping Newcomers?”
Some roles, such as medicine and law, require professional training. But most areas of newcomer support do not. Organizations welcome people with time, energy, and willingness. You can serve as an individual or as part of a group. Many programs even match community groups with newcomer families to build ongoing relationships. Major organizations like the Red Cross, IRC, and UN Volunteers operate globally, but local NGOs and churches often provide the most direct opportunities. The key is to start where you are, not wait for the perfect moment. And once you decide to begin, the most sustainable way forward is to root your service in who you already are.
Root Yourself in Your Talents
Here is where I want to leave you. Go with who you are. Do not overcomplicate the process or try to fit into someone else’s role. The most lasting service comes when you connect your natural gifts to the real needs of others. If you are a fitness trainer, run classes for newcomers. Many newcomers feel stuck in their heads, overwhelmed by memories and uncertainty, and the body often carries the stress of displacement. Physical activity brings strength, hope, and a sense of control when so much else in life feels uncontrollable. Something as simple as group exercise builds confidence, lifts mood, and creates a rhythm of community that restores dignity.
If you are a homemaker, your gift is not small. You know how to create warmth, order, and welcome in a home, and that is often what newcomers long for most. Invite a new family into your kitchen and cook together, share recipes, and let them teach you as much as you teach them. Offer childcare so parents can attend language classes or job interviews without worry. Even teaching basic household skills—how to grocery shop in a new country, how to manage bills, how to set up a simple routine—can mean the difference between survival and stability. The ordinary rhythms you take for granted become extraordinary tools of adjustment for those who have lost the familiarity of home.
If you are a giver, your generosity makes tangible change. A contribution of fifty dollars may provide school supplies for children for an entire semester. A hundred dollars can cover transportation for a family to attend medical appointments or job interviews for a full month. A thousand dollars may sustain a language program that opens doors for dozens of newcomers. Money is not abstract—it becomes meals on tables, lessons in classrooms, medicine in clinics, and the gift of time for volunteers who can focus fully on service. Givers extend the reach of every other volunteer, and their impact ripples far beyond what they may ever see.
Helping newcomers does not mean you must step into a role you are not suited for. It means offering what you already do best, and trusting that it matters. When you give out of your strength, your service carries energy and joy instead of exhaustion and frustration. Newcomers do not need saviors; they need neighbors, friends, and partners who are rooted in their authentic skills and presence. Every act of service, when done from your true capacity, is both sustainable for you and transformative for them.
The philosopher Aristotle once said, “Where your talents and the needs of the world cross, there lies your vocation.” His words remind us that vocation is not about grand ambition but about alignment—the place where what you love to do meets what the world requires. Viktor Frankl, a Holocaust survivor, wrote, “Life is never made unbearable by circumstances, but only by lack of meaning and purpose.” Settlement work is full of suffering and challenge, but when you step into it with your gift, you find meaning for yourself as much as for those you serve. Your service becomes a path where brokenness is met with purpose, and despair is met with hope.
The Bible reminds us in 1 Peter 4:10, “Each of you should use whatever gift you have received to serve others, as faithful stewards of God’s grace.” This verse grounds us in a simple truth: every person has a role, no matter how ordinary it may seem. Grace is multiplied when people bring forward their gifts in community, and what looks like a small act becomes part of a much larger story of healing. Serving newcomers is not about being everything—it is about being faithful with what you already hold.
The need is great, but the starting point is simple. Look at what you already have in your hands. Then offer it. The gifts you use to serve others become the very place where your own purpose is refined. The newcomer who learns, heals, or rebuilds because of you is not the only one changed—you are changed as well. Service is not only about lifting others up; it is about finding the deeper reason you were given those gifts in the first place.'
Tell me what you think. Leave a comment or a question. I read every one. Your input helps me see what matters most to you and shapes where we go next.
Who’s Behind Exit to Hope?
The heart behind
is where caring sponsors, partners, and friends join together to help newcomers move from surviving to building stable new lives on this digital platform. is more than just a project. It’s a movement I deeply believe in and want to grow, making real, practical help easier to reach for those who need it most.Thank you so much for subscribing. Your support means the world to me. It inspires me to think about what’s possible next and reminds me that together, me, you, and the communities we build can play a real part in helping newcomers rebuild their lives.
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What’s Behind Exit to Hope?
The purpose is to motivate communities to walk alongside newcomers, helping them find strength and empowerment from within rather than relying only on outside aid. Through practical and sustainable coaching, the aim is to open safe pathways and clear options for resettlement and new beginnings.
I look forward to working with churches and NGOs, because support across many areas creates lasting impact.
Thank you for being part of this journey with me. My hope is that your week is filled with purpose, peace, and the joy of knowing you are helping make change possible, one story at a time.