Immigrant Welcome Network celebrates three years of helping new arrivals find homes, jobs and community in Johnson County

The Immigrant Welcome Network of Johnson County (IWNJC) held its third-annual gala on Saturday in Coralville. Themed “Dreams without Borders,” the event surpassed its fundraising goal by $3,000, taking in $38,000 in donations to support its mission of helping newly arrived immigrants in the area get settled.

The Unitarian Universalist Society Sanctuary was alive with performances from African dancers and musicians, a feast of international foods, and speeches from IWNJC founder and director Mazahir Salih, board president Will Kapp, and occupants of the nonprofit’s “Welcome Houses,” both current and former.

IWNJC began in June 2023, shortly after Salih, an immigrant from Sudan and an Iowa City Council member, decided to step down from directing the Center for Worker Justice of Eastern Iowa — an org she founded in 2012 and which spent 13 years fighting for fair pay, wage-theft recovery and tenants’ rights in the Iowa City area.

She noticed many immigrant and refugee families arrive in Iowa with just enough funds for a few nights in a hotel before facing homelessness. With IWNJC, Salih and her team work to ensure that immigrants new to the community have a stable place to land in their new home, the resources to get settled and the “opportunity to thrive.” In three years, IWNJC has helped more than 330 people from 29 countries transition into local permanent housing.

One speaker at the gala was Alhadi Ahmed, who arrived with his family in summer 2025 from war-torn Sudan. Ahmed, his wife Einas Elhassen and their two children briefly resided in a IWNJC Welcome House last year until Ahmed was able to secure a full-time job and permanent housing. Ahmed is among hundreds of people for which the nonprofit has provided free English instruction and assistance navigating the Social Security office, school enrollment, employment applications and other logistics of life in Iowa. He said the org helped him feel a part of the Iowa City community while he sought housing and employment in his field, education.

Bahreldin Hamad, who currently resides in a Welcome House with family, also spoke. Originally from Darfur, Hamad moved to Khartoum, the capital of Sudan, and worked as a security officer at the U.S. Embassy for 17 years while maintaining a grapefruit farm. When his property was destroyed by members of the genocidal RSF paramilitary force, his family fled to the U.S. on a Special Immigration Visa, sponsored by an American friend. They arrived in February this year, his wife Amona pregnant. They settled into a Welcome House, where Amona gave birth to their 10th child.

“It was very emotionally and physically tiring before coming to the U.S., including the journey here. But since then it’s been a lot more stable and peaceful,” Hamad told IWNJC through a translator. The organization has helped him secure a job at Proctor & Gamble and as a DoorDash driver. His large family will be moving into a house of their own this month.

“Thank God for everything and everyone,” Hamad continued. “The Welcome House was clean and the furniture was clean and nice. I like how we have been treated in Iowa. I love how warm and nice people are.”

Yotopia owner Veronica Tessler sponsored the gala, recalling her own parents’ transition to the U.S. from Ukraine once upon a time. “I’m inspired by the way IWNJC goes beyond providing material stability to help new arrivals find belonging and feel at home,” she told Little Village. “Supporting that kind of welcome is something I’m proud to stand behind.”

IWNJC have several programs aimed at bolstering that sense of belonging in new arrivals. The Social Enterprise program provides “an opportunity for immigrant chefs to share their cultures, build their businesses, and earn income,” according to the org. Women from the program prepared a spread of African and Middle Eastern cuisine for Saturday’s gala.

Their Voice of Resilience storytelling and community meal series is held on the third Friday of each month at 1927 Keokuk St, Iowa City. On Sept. 18, IWNJC will present a unique storytelling event called “We Are Not What You Think: A Musical Journey of Truth, Work, and Belonging,” with the support of the Rapson Collective. The event will bring together Latino and African music and dance to complement local immigrant storytellers and a multicultural bazaar.

September is a busy month for IWNJC and other organizations which serve immigrants leading up to Johnson County’s fourth annual Welcoming Week, Sept. 10-19. There will be at least 17 local events as part of the annual celebration of belonging, including Iowa City’s Latino Fest (Sept. 19) and the African American Festival of Arts and Culture (Sept. 26).

Ahead of Welcoming Week, IWNJC’s monthly “Big Table” event (a component of their Social Enterprise program, which occurs on the first Friday each month except December) will offer Middle Eastern food on Sept. 4 from 6-8:30 p.m. at St. Andrew Presbyterian Church in Iowa City. Suggested donations of $15-20 go directly to the chef. Like many IWNJC community events, the night will bring people together around food.

Salih told Little Village she hopes the Immigrant Welcome Network can help dispel harmful narratives about immigrants that exist in some Americans’ minds. “We’re not what you think. We’re hardworking people, parents, workers, neighbors. We’re not taking American jobs; we’re not criminals.”

“No one would leave their comfort zone if there wasn’t danger,” she continued.
“[Immigrants] contribute to [our] community and most importantly, we are your neighbors.”