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INTERFAITH COMMUNITYWe are an interfaith group of religious leaders and laypersons, as well as representatives of other community groups who have come together for the purpose of helping refugees and asylum-seekers, in light of the current migration crisis that has displaced millions of people. We are located in Birmingham, Alabama.
The group does not engage in any proselytizing or promotion of any particular religion or political affiliation. |
our goalSUPPORT REFUGEES LOCALLY AND GLOBALLY
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our history A Refugee Interest Group was organized in October 2016 to identify and implement ways to support refugees in Birmingham, AL, and around the world. The group was started under the Justice Committee of the Unitarian Universalist Church of Birmingham (UUCB), and since its beginning has been open to all. As of September 2020, there were more than 300 people on its email distribution list. Some of the group’s partners have included the Birmingham Islamic Society, the Alabama Coalition for Immigrant Justice, the Alabama Adelante Worker Center, the Hispanic Interest Coalition of Alabama, and the University of Alabama Institute for Human Rights and Sparkman Center for Global Health.
In January 2019, the group initiated efforts to expand its membership to include leaders and members of more diverse faith communities and other community groups in order to increase our impact and effectiveness. The group changed its name to the Birmingham Interfaith Refugee Ministry to reflect this expanded focus. In July 2019, the group voted to change its name to “Alabama Interfaith Refugee Partnership” (ALIRP) to reflect the mission to serve refugees and asylum-seekers throughout Alabama. The group continued to operate under the organizational structure of the Unitarian Universalist Church of Birmingham (UUCB), until October 24, 2019 when it was approved as a 501(c)(3) non-profit charitable organization. The ALIRP has achieved "silver" status as a non-profit organization from the Guidestar organization. In September 2021, the Inspiritus Refugee Resettlment program that was based in Atlanta received approval from the US State Department to open an office in Birmingham. The ALIRP is pleased to partner with Inspiritus in welcoming refugees from Afghanistan to the Birmingham area. Through a special fundraising campaign held in September, the ALIRP is co-sponsoring three Afghan refugee families and a number of ALIRP volunteers are serving on care teams for refugees who are receiving resettlement services through Inspiritus. The ALIRP will also continue to support asylum-seeking families as they pursue their dreams of obtaining asylum and freedom from persecution. |
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View a short video with interviews of several ALIRP board members and asylum-seekers to learn more about our work. This video was created in the fall of 2021 by the talented videographer, Pam Powell.
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