Alex Cruz is a shelter specialist at the IRC's welcome center for asylum-seeking families in Phoenix, Arizona. Despite being in constant pain from health issues she’s had since birth, Alex chooses to focus on assisting families looking for safety and protection. “My job is the only reason I get up in the morning,” she says. Read her story.

Watch the heartwarming moment sisters Kimbembi and Seva from the DRC are reunited in the U.S.For refugees like the Welo family, the journey doesn't end when they arrive. With support from Uber, the IRC is helping resettled families navigate their new lives. The International Rescue Committee helps people whose lives and livelihoods are shattered by conflict and disaster to survive, recover and gain control of their future.

New parents Hussaini and Ibrahim* have welcomed their first son, Bello, to their family with help from IRC midwife Murna. Born in Gwoza, northeast Nigeria, baby Bello is starting life in a community that has been deeply affected by the ongoing conflict. With support from the European Union, the IRC provides families with access to reproductive health clinics where IRC midwives assist mothers through pregnancy, birth and beyond.

Um Abdo and her family have become internally displaced by the war in Syria—2021 marks a decade of the conflict. Violence, displacement and humanitarian needs continue to grow, putting Syria third in the IRC’s Emergency Watchlist of humanitarian crises for the coming year. Despite this, Um Abdo has been able to earn an income to support her family by sewing masks at home that the IRC delivers to the community for free.

It's Jori's first week of kindergarten in Dallas, Texas. Her big brother Majed just started Third Grade. Their family arrived as refugees from war-torn Syria nearly two years ago. Jori and Majed's mother, Bothina, was a teacher back home. She and her husband Tamam are glad their children are safe and in a good school, and now have a brighter future in America. Learn more about their family's new life.

Paind Khan has big plans for his biryani—the savory mixed rice dish is going to be the first meal he'll cook for his wife when they're reunited. When that will be, he's not sure. He has not seen his family in 7 months, they're living in Germany and he's in Greece—he cannot join them unless his family reunification case has been accepted. Read Panid's story.