Welcoming America

Welcoming America is a nonprofit leading a movement of inclusive communities becoming more prosperous by ensuring everyone belongs, including immigrants. They connect a broad network of nonprofits and local governments and support them in becoming truly welcoming places by providing communities the roadmap they need to create welcoming policies and share new approaches to inclusion to create an environment where everyone can truly thrive

The St. Louis Mosaic Project is a regional initiative within the St. Louis Economic Development Partnership and the World Trade Center St. Louis. St. Louis aims to be a cultural mosaic because this community believes that immigrants invigorate our region. We want to share our community with its great neighborhoods, outstanding schools, plus some of the best hospitals and cultural destinations in the world.

We are a proud member of Welcoming America and have created this online hub to showcase the breadth and depth of our region's welcoming spirit and commitment to helping all foreign-born newcomers create a sense of belonging.

St. Louis Mosaic Project

Celebrating the 10th Anniversary of Welcoming Week

Welcoming Week is an annual campaign and celebration to showcase the movement of communities striving to be more welcoming places for all, including immigrants. Launched in 2012 by Welcoming America and its members, Welcoming Week provides individuals and communities the opportunity to proclaim welcoming values through events and local initiatives that foster mutual understanding between immigrants and non-immigrants, as well as deeper belonging for all.

This year, Welcoming Week celebrates its 10th anniversary. What started as a small collection of events in U.S. communities has since expanded to reach more than 400 events annually across the world, signaling the broad commitment to welcoming values. Join us in 2022 to recognize and celebrate the people, places, and values that ensure everyone feels welcome and belongs in our communities, no matter where they come from.

Welcoming Week Events in St. Louis

Sept 9-18, 2022 #WhereWeBelong

St. Louis is a welcoming region and we're excited about the variety of activities taking place this week! If you'd like to add your event to this hub, please email details to St. Louis Mosaic Project.

Week

Welcoming

Click on the image for details! (new events added daily - check back often!)

FRI. SEPT 9 | 7:30-9:30A Hiring Int'l STEM Graduates Panel Discussion- MAC Downtown

Join us for a discussion about how companies can hire global international STEM graduates to support business growth. $15 for non-MAC members

SAT. SEPT. 10 | 1-3 PM Day One Documentary Carpenter Library, 3309 South Grand Blvd.

A screening of the award-winning documentary Day One, which follows a group of teenage refugees from war-torn countries who are enrolled at a unique public school for refugees and immigrants-only in St. Louis, where they are guided through an inspirational program of education, healing, and trauma intervention by devoted educators, some of whom have chosen to relocate to the inner city to support their students.

The screening will be followed by an interactive panel entitled St. Louis Refugee and Immigration Initiatives: Past, Present, and Future with experts featured in the film including Betsy Cohen, Executive Director of St. Louis Mosaic Project; Kelly Moore, Director of NCNAA (Nahed Chapman New American Academy); Peter Tao, Architect and Community Organizer; and Anita Barker, Vice President of Education of The International Institute of St. Louis.

SAT. SEPT 10 | 11A - 1PM Jean Shin:Home Base Exhibit Opening Laumeier Park, 12580 Rott Road

New York state-based, South Korean artist Jean Shin, Laumeier’s 2022 Visiting Artist in Residence, describes her work as “giving new form to life’s leftovers.” Her sculptures and installations transform familiar objects into compelling meditations on collective memory, desires, and failures. Recently, Shin has been using fallen trees as raw material for installations that touch on life cycles and the impacts of climate change. Shin’s engagement with Laumeier focuses on North American ash trees, which are under threat from the Emerald Ash Borer, an insect whose populations have increased exponentially due to global warming. She aims to draw awareness to this issue, as well as related topics around climate change and conservation, by highlighting their connection to the all-American sport of baseball.

Shin's site-responsive installation Home Base figures an alternate baseball diamond, one where a salvaged stump of a dead ash tree from Laumeier Sculpture Park is fashioned into the shape and size of a home plate. First, second, and third bases are reimagined as sculptural seats or benches created from the same ash tree and blemished bats donated by Rawlings, the sports manufacturer who supplies baseball bats to the St. Louis Cardinals. The artist endeavors to foreground the connection between nature and culture, specifically between a nationally treasured game and our beautiful forests, observing: "What affects the game, affects the environment, and more importantly, what affects the environment, affects the game."

SUN. SEPT 11 | 1 PM Shaw Park Enterprise Pavilion

Family friendly event with activities and games for kids. Pig roast and vegetarian options.

ALL WEEK St. Louis County Library Branches - Variety of events to welcome new neighbors, participate in a Passport Scavenger Hunt, Share recipes from country of origin and more.

WED. SEPT 14 6PM Zoom discussion-Where We Belong: Driving Factors of Belongingness

If there are pull factors for mass migration then what are the push factors of mass migration for young professionals?

Home Base STL is excited to be part of #WelcomingWeek, a national campaign by Welcoming America.

This year’s theme is #WhereWeBelong, we are thrilled to have several remarkable young immigrants professionals and international students who have been fostering belongingness for their respective communities.

Igho Ekakitie, Founder of IgoWithIgo and Graduate Assistant at Webster University

Panelists:

Alejandro Santiago Ortega, Outreach Representative for Congressman Cori Bush

Malini Rao, Assistant General Counsel at Eqifax Workforce Solutions.

Elson Chen, President of the Chinese Students and Scholars Association at Saint Louis University

Fahima Band Ali, Student Ambassador at Webster University and Emerging Leader Advocacy Fellow at UN - USA

Heela Momand, Vice President of Triton Health Educators at the University of Missouri - St. Louis.

WED., SEPT 14 | 7 PM SLSO Forest Park FREE Concert

Gather with family & friends for a favorite tradition. St. Louis Symphony Music Director Stephane Deneve conducts the musical celebration, capped off with fireworks!

WED. SEPT 14 | 2-4:45 PM Zoom panel discussion about higher education access for refugees in St. Louis.

Organized by the MO Office of Refugee Administration and the Higher Education Consortium of St. Louis. Join us to here experts as they share their work, experiences, strategies, and resources for addressing barriers and improving support for refugee students pursuing higher education. Register to attend.

SUN. SEPT. 18 9 AM - 1 PM Building Community Together at 2 Acre Park 3901 Forest Park Ave.

Join the YMCA & Pocketparks for a Welcoming Week Celebration! Volunteer service project, family activities and more.

FRI. SEPT 23 | 8 PM Concert at The Sheldon

All-female Latin alternative group LADAMA harnesses music from their countries of origin: Brazil, Colombia, Venezuela and the U.S. $15. Call 314-534-1111 and mention promo code: WHITAKER15

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