Partner Partner Content A place to belong: World Refugee Day creates space for solidarity and celebration

This story was made possible by support from the St. Joseph Community Health Foundation.

The McMillen Family Pavilion at Franke Park was alive with traditional dances and clothing from more than half a dozen different countries during the World Refugee Day celebration hosted by the Northeast Indiana Immigration Network, made up of several local organizations that serve refugees and immigrants in Fort Wayne.

This annual celebration reflected the universal recognition of World Refugee Day, which occurs annually on June 20. The United Nations established World Refugee Day as an international holiday in December 2000, with the first global celebration taking place on June 20, 2001. It marked the 50th anniversary of the 1951 Refugee Convention, a legal document that created a universally accepted definition of a refugee and provided standards for their rights and protection.

World Refugee Day is celebrated worldwide with festivals, educational initiatives, and campaigns of support for the people who have left everything behind to start over in a new country and culture. In Fort Wayne alone, refugees from Myanmar, Afghanistan, and many other nations have resettled in search of a life away from violence and unrest.

“No one wakes up one morning and says, ‘I think I’m going to become a refugee today; I’m going to leave everything behind,’” says Nicole Kurut, marketing director at Catholic Charities, the only refugee resettlement agency in the region. “These people are living away from their families and their culture, and there’s a lot of trauma involved with that. World Refugee Day allows us to create a safe space for them to share about some of their experiences with a group of people who understand the depth of their pain.”

Fostering a community of solidarity

This year’s celebration took place on Friday, June 19, deviating from its typical location at the Allen County Public Library to use the recently constructed pavilion at Franke Park. The new venue provided a cohesive space for the food, entertainment, and activities that made up the heart of the celebration.

“In past years, we’ve come close to max capacity for our space at the library, and we were excited to be in a space that could welcome everyone comfortably,” says Kurut. “This is a chance for our clients to be in a room full of people who understand what they’ve gone through. For a subset of people who spend a lot of time in the shadows of our community, that sense of belonging and support can be so powerful. We know how important it is for our clients to attend, and we work hard to coordinate and provide transportation so everyone who wants to come can attend.”

In planning the event, Kurut and her team focus on creating a space that has something to offer for all ages. The theme for 2026 was “solidarity,” and the celebration included speeches from refugees who shared stories about their journeys to the United States, activities for kids to learn more about different cultures, and performances in traditional attire for entertainment.

“One of the sweetest things about the event is that many of the attendees, including the children, come in their traditional clothing from their country,” says Ann Atkison, executive director at International House (iHouse), one of several organizations that come together to facilitate the celebration. “It’s always so full of vibrant colors and textures, and it’s lovely to see the way they are passing these beautiful elements of their culture down to the next generation in their families. They’re here, embracing this new culture, but they’re also staying true to the wonderful elements of their home culture. This event helps us create a space where they don’t feel like they have to leave that culture behind.”

Turning individual celebrations into a collaborative event

Fort Wayne is home to several organizations that serve refugees and immigrants in different capacities, including Catholic Charities, iHouse, Amani Family Services and the St. Joseph Community Health Foundation. Over the years, these organizations have shared resources and referrals to make sure their clients have access to crucial resettlement and immigration services.

In 2023, the formation of the Northeast Indiana Immigration Network led to a greater sense of unity among these local agencies. Where in the past the organizations had worked together informally, the establishment of the network allowed for more intentional interactions.

“When we started the Northeast Indiana Immigration Network, we realized we were all doing things a little differently, but we had the same heart and mind,” says Atkison. “We’re all working together toward the same goals, and combining all our expertise helps us accomplish more.”

Soon, a new idea began to form. Instead of honoring refugees and immigrants with small, isolated gatherings, the organizations’ leaders wondered whether they could create something together: a single event that reflected the diversity of Fort Wayne’s refugee community and the strength of the partnerships supporting it. The luncheon hosted by Catholic Charities, which had been a staple in the community for several years, became the framework on which a larger-scale celebration would be built.

“Last year was the first year we decided to host the World Refugee Day event alongside Amani Family Services, iHouse, and the St. Joseph Community Health Foundation as a combined effort of the Immigration Network,” says Kurut. “We really have a great partnership among all our organizations, and we create committees for the decor, food, and entertainment at this event to make sure we’re representing the distinct refugee countries well.”

The St. Joseph Community Health Foundation is a key program funder for each of the organizations within the Northeast Indiana Immigration Network because of the foundation’s commitment to serving refugees as one of its key impact areas. Matt Smith, CEO of the St. Joseph Community Health Foundation, previously served as chief development officer at Catholic Charities, and his time in that role still informs the way he approaches his work at the foundation.

“I was working with Catholic Charities when our organizations came together to launch the Refugee Health Collaborative alongside IU Health, and it was really encouraging to see how our collective efforts improved the support available to refugees and immigrants in our community,” says Smith. “When we saw how the different agencies were all doing something a little different for World Refugee Day, we realized this could be another opportunity to create a stronger sense of solidarity by combining into a single, larger event.”

According to Smith, that sense of solidarity also reflects a foundational Catholic social teaching that he and his team want to embody within the community. World Refugee Day offers an opportunity for the foundation’s leadership to support not just refugees in the community, but also the organizations that do the day-to-day work of serving them.

“The World Refugee Day event encompasses our values, raises awareness for the immigration services we champion, and unites organizations in our community that are doing life-changing work for refugees,” says Jackie Martinez, community impact director at the St. Joseph Community Health Foundation. “We also see it as an opportunity for the organizations we support to network with each other, connect with clients, and offer resources to people who might not have known about them.”

The St. Joseph Community Health Foundation’s emphasis on serving refugees traces back to its founders, the Poor Handmaids of Jesus Christ, a congregation of Catholic religious sisters. In the mid-1800s, the founder of the Poor Handmaids, Saint Katharina Kasper, sent sisters to the United States from Germany to serve German immigrants, and their mission to help those living on the margins of society continues in the values of the Foundation today.

“Saint Katharina and the Poor Handmaids remind us of the gospel imperative to welcome and care for the stranger,” says Smith. “World Refugee Day invites us to recognize both the unique struggles and the strengths of our newest neighbors, and to help them become part of the community.”

This story was made possible by support from the St. Joseph Community Health Foundation.