Imagine fleeing your home in the middle of the night.  You have enough time to grab your family and run. You leave everything else behind — documentation, momentos, diplomas. You walk for days, hiding and trying to keep your family alive. Eventually you reach a tent city where a friendly face offers you shelter, food and water. It’s not home, but it’s safe. You . . . → Read More: Consider the life of a refugee

Check out this fascinating interview with a neuroscientist who has found that bilingualism sharpens the mind and delays the onset of Alzheimer’s symptoms.

Dr. Ellen Bialystok has been researching the cognitive effects of speaking two languages for nearly 40 years. She has found that it trains the mind to better sort through information and focus on relevant facts. Bilingual children did better on tests, . . . → Read More: Can Uniting NC lower your risk of Alzheimer’s?

At one of Uniting NC’s recent events, a woman talked about her conversion to Islam. She said that, once she began wearing a hijab to cover her head, she felt that people no longer saw her. Instead, they saw only her difference. She no longer had friendly conversations in shops or exchanged smiles on the sidewalk. People kept their distance. She felt a loneliness . . . → Read More: Help us welcome our Muslim neighbors

A couple weekends ago, the New York Times ran a fascinating profile of John Tanton, the man who helped start three prominent national groups that push for tighter limits on immigration. Tanton is the man behind the Federation for American Immigration Reform (FAIR), Numbers USA and the Center for Immigration Studies — all familiar names to anyone in the immigration world. Those groups have . . . → Read More: Has he ever known an immigrant?

Read this post from Diane Faires, a Uniting NC volunteer and a pastor at St. Paul’s Christian Church, to learn about a great event that you can attend on Saturday evening. The night includes a traditional Vietnamese feast (cooked over an open fire), a fashion show and shopping, and it’s all to benefit refugee children. Read on:

A few weeks ago the youth group . . . → Read More: You can help refugee children go to college — just by eating dinner

A new guest post from Uniting NC volunteer Melissa Bellitto:

Last night I had a discussion with an acquaintance about immigrants speaking English. He wanted to e-mail me a link to the Australian Prime Minister’s rant that immigrants should either speak English, or go back to their country. This e-mail has been floating around the internet for years, and is well established as a . . . → Read More: Why don’t they just learn English?

This past week, Uniting NC had the opportunity to be part of a fantastic project. Charlotte artist Edwin Gil, a native of Colombia, is touring the state creating what he calls the Flag of Hope. The flag is actually a massive canvas covered in hand prints made by people all over North Carolina. Atop their hand prints, each person has written . . . → Read More: Creating a Flag of Hope

A guest post from volunteer Melissa Bellitto:

Last week’s earthquake and tsunami in Japan, and the disaster that is continuing to unfold there, serve as a reminder to all of us: We are all one people, sharing a very small planet.  Instantaneous communication reminds us of this fact.  Twitter is awash with thoughts, prayers, affirmations and news stories about Japan. Donations are pouring into . . . → Read More: Sharing a small planet

On Saturday, at a ceremony at Duke University, Uniting NC accepted the N.C. Peace Corps Association’s annual Peace Prize. The prize is awarded to non-profits that promote peace and cross-cultural understanding. And in Uniting NC’s case, the judges told us they were impressed with how much we’ve done with such a tiny budget and staff.

This prize is an incredible honor for us, but . . . → Read More: What the Peace Prize means to us

Please don’t forget about our fundraising challenge. There is still time to give. But while you are writing those checks, here is a guest post from one of our wonderful new volunteers, Melissa Bellitto:

“I was you and never knew it.”  — Rumi

A couple of recent stories in the News & Observer got us thinking about the common misconceptions that can alienate whole . . . → Read More: Look under the labels

Uniting NC has just learned about a very exciting opportunity, but we need your help to take advantage of it.

Individual donations from people like you make our work possible. And we’re thrilled to tell you that, if you give now, we can double your money. But there’s a hitch — it’s set up as a challenge that only you can help us win!

. . . → Read More: Can YOU meet the challenge?

Uniting NC is off to a great start in 2011. We had a very successful volunteer training session in mid-January, where 20 people learned about Uniting NC and how they can help spread our message of respect and inclusiveness to their own communities. We are amazed at the amount of energy and good ideas these new volunteers are already bringing to Uniting NC. If . . . → Read More: Introducing our volunteer coordinator

This weekend, the unthinkable happened in Arizona. In what appears to have been an assassination attempt, Congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords was shot point blank in the head during a political appearance outside a grocery store. She was one of 14 people wounded and six killed in the shooting spree. A judge and a 9-year-old girl are among the dead. When politically motivated massacres start happening . . . → Read More: A call to action

Yes, the holidays are a time for shopping and decorating, baking cookies and sending cards. But they are also a time for cultivating a spirit of giving, a time of kindness and warmth, a time of welcoming. And no one needs those gifts more than the tens of thousands of immigrants and refugees who call North Carolina home.

Last week, I attended the holiday . . . → Read More: A welcoming holiday

Today, a federal appeals court struck down a Pennsylvania town’s ordinances prohibiting businesses and landlords from hiring or renting to illegal immigrants. The judges said the controversial ordinances, passed by the Hazelton city council in 2006, usurped federal authority to enforce immigration law.

Similar ordinances that have attempted to crack down on immigration at the local level have been passed around the country, most . . . → Read More: Let's accept reality