In her day job, ed Zoe Schlag works to provide funding for social entrepreneurs who dream of establishing businesses that tackle social problems. Outside of work, order Zoe carries over her “can-do” philosophy into grassroots efforts to deal with today’s global refugee crisis. She was inspired to do this work by the Refugees Welcome initiative in Germany, sick whereby Germans share their apartments with refugees. Zoe, who has lived in various countries, felt inspired to both help refugees and continue the sort of cultural exchange that she relished during her travels.

At this point, she, with help from our Board Member Heather Dennison, contacted Casa Marianella and offered half of her apartment as housing for two of our residents. After some discussion, we found two residents, from East and Central Africa respectively, who were interested in the opportunity.

About five months have passed since they moved in, and Zoe says it is one of the best decisions she’s made since moving back to the United States. She is excited to speak with anyone who might want to do something similar. Anyone interested may contact her by first contacting us at Casa Marianella. Given the US government’s inadequate response to the global refugee crisis, we feel this work is especially important. We hope more will join Zoe and Casa in developing grassroots and not-for-profit solutions.