Officials with the volunteer aid organization, World Relief, announced they would be closing multiple offices, including one in Nashville, due to President Trump's reduction of refugees resettling in the U.S.
The organization was forced to layoff more than 140 staff members across its U.S. Ministry and close local offices in Boise, Idaho, Columbus, Ohio, Miami, Florida, Nashville, Tennessee, and Glen Burnie, Maryland.
Officials said in the announcement that the five offices have collectively resettled more than 25,000 refugees over the past four decades.
“It has been our great privilege to serve both local churches and resilient refugee and immigrant families in each of these communities,” said World Relief President Scott Arbeiter. “Our staff at each of these locations have served diligently and sacrificially—some of them for many years—and we are deeply saddened to have to make this difficult decision. These staff members are also experts whose vast experience has brought an effectiveness and professionalism to their work. This represents a loss of more than 140 jobs—which by itself is deeply troubling—but also decades of organizational expertise and invaluable capacity to serve the world’s most vulnerable people.”
Private citizens, churches, and charities that would like to contribute to World Relief’s efforts here and abroad may do so at www.worldrelief.org.
