Cheddar News discusses a new State Department program, the ‘Welcome Corps’ that will allow private U.S. citizens to sponsor refugees from around the world.

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One Good Thing: ‘Welcome Corps’

We know the world can be tough sometimes, so we'd like to take a moment to share One Good Thing happening the world today. The State Department just launched a new program that could have a big impact on refugee resettlement here in the US. It's called Welcome Corps. It allows private US citizens like you or me to sponsor refugees from around the world. This is the biggest change the U. S. Refugee program since it was created in 1980. Here's how it works. Groups of five or more US citizens or permanent residents can participate in the program. All they have to do is raise at least $2075 per refugee pass a background check and create a support plan. This includes everything from greeting refugees at the airport to enrolling kids in school to helping adults find jobs. The goal is to help more refugees find stable safe homes while reducing some of the federal government's cost lifting some of the burden off of non profit organizations. You know, his historically just nine organizations have handled all of the logistics involved in refugee resettlement here in the US. Now ordinary folks can help support newcomers when they arrive. Welcome Corps hopes to find at least 10,000 U. S. Citizens to sponsor about 5000 refugees. The programmer rolled out in two phases this year. In the first phase, sponsors will be matched with refugees who have already been cleared to come to the US. In the second phase sponsors will be able to identify the refugees that they want to help. This is a big move for the Biden administration, which is trying to bolster refugee resettlement. President Biden's goal is to admit 100 and 25,000 refugees to the US through the 2023 fiscal year. But during the first three months of the fiscal year, less than 7000 refugees have arrived. That means he's behind schedule.