CWS - Lancaster Immigration & Refugee Program

Our food pantry is looking a little empty after a week of supporting our neighbors. This week we fed 36 families totaling to 145 individuals. Can you help us fill our shelves? If you are in Lancaster City sign up for our food drive, if you are further away check out our Amazon wish list!

This month, from World Refugee Day to Immigrant Heritage Month, we honor the stories that shape our community—and invite you to wear that message proudly.

Every purchase helps fund the programs that empower refugee and immigrant neighbors. Wear your welcome and be part of what makes our community stronger

Shop with purpose: https://cwslancaster.printful.me/

We are so grateful for our Monday's additions to the CWS Lancaster food pantry! Thank you to the neighbors who donated to our June food drive in honor of
If you live or work within 5 miles of our CWS Lancaster office and would like to donate please fill out the form and put your bag out on your porch next Monday!

This June, we Rise Up for Refuge.

This month is a time to honor refugee and immigrant stories—and to take action. Join and on June 20 for a powerful gathering centered on welcome, dignity, and belonging.

Whether you are new to this work or have long been engaged, we invite you to join us in:

📣 Amplifying Local Voices
🌱 Activating Communities of Conscience
🗣 Shaping Truthful Narrative
✊ Taking action through advocacy, mutual aid, and accompaniment
🤝 Building accountability and deeper community engagement

Rise Up for Refuge is more than an event—it’s an opportunity to come together across faiths, backgrounds, and experiences to learn, reflect, and take meaningful action.

Join Us for a Community Food Drive!

This June, in honor of World Refugee Day and Immigrant Heritage Month, CWS Lancaster is hosting a Global Food Pantry Food Drive—and we need your help!

📅 Every Monday in June
📍 Porch pick-up within 5 miles of the CWS Lancaster office

How to participate:
🛍️ Pick up a donation bag from Nooks Books or use one of your own!
🥫 Fill it with shelf-stable staples for our Global Food Pantry
📝 Complete the participation form so we know you’re joining in
🏡 Place your bag on your front porch on a Monday—and we’ll take care of the rest!

Our dedicated staff and volunteers will come right to your home to collect your donation. It’s an easy, meaningful way to support refugee and immigrant neighbors in our community. Together, we can make sure families have access to the food they need—while celebrating the strength and diversity that make Lancaster so special.

👉 Sign up + learn more: bit.ly/CWSpickup

On this International Day of Families, we celebrate the simple, powerful truth: families belong together. ❤️

This heartfelt drawing -- created by one of our immigration attorneys who represents unaccompanied children -- began as part of an activity during a recent staff meeting. What started as a piece of paper with a few simple circles became a father and child, connected, protected, and whole.

Today helps remind us why our work matters. Every child deserves safety, and every family deserves to be together.

We are all set up for Open Streets!

It's been 6 months since we opend our food pantry doors, and since then, we've provided culturally familiar staples to 750+ individuals—with 47% of guests being children. That includes 500+ halal chickens!

We launched this pantry in response to changes in SNAP eligibility impacting refugee and immigrant families—but it has become so much more than a place for food. It’s a space rooted in hospitality, respect, and belonging, where every neighbor feels seen and welcomed.

Thank you to all of the individuals, community groups, faith groups, and local businesses that have hosted food drives and regular donations. Because of you, families are receiving food that honors their traditions, choices, and dignity.

As demand grows, we’ve doubled the number of available appointments—and we need YOUR HELP to keep our shelves stocked to meet the need.

👉 Host a food drive
👉 Donate to support food purchases
👉 Help us keep shelves stocked and bellies full

Together, we're building a world where everyone has food, voice, and a safe place to call home.

For 20 years, CWS Lancaster has worked to ensure immigrants and refugees have access to the legal representation they deserve.

Our immigration legal services programs provide free and low-cost legal representation by attorneys and accredited representatives to refugees, immigrants, unaccompanied children, and their families with family and humanitarian-based immigration matters.

In a recent LNP | Lancaster Online op-ed, our Associate Director for Legal Services, Janet Tisinger, highlighted the vital role DOJ-accredited programs play in making this work possible—and the risks they face today.

A huge thank-you to the for donating menstrual products to share through our food pantry. Access to menstrual products is essential to staying healthy, safe, and able to fully participate in daily life.

This week marks 6 months of food pantry support, so you'll be be hearing a lot about this space all week. As families face changing policies and hateful rhetoric, we’re working hard to provide dignity, care, and the everyday essentials that families need to thrive.

Thank you for helping us make that possible!