Haven on Garland

Today is International Women’s Day and we celebrate and honor and work hard for the amazing Afghan women who we are privileged to support and walk alongside in their journeys striving for higher education and freedom. We also know there are many more women who are seeking such freedom and opportunity from Afghanistan and we will continue to partner with amazing organizations to help bring more such amazingly talented Afghan women here. #womenempowerment

On the first night of Ramadan we enjoyed Lamb Kebabs. It’s a joy we have to celebrate with our ladies their food and culture and religious holidays. It’s one of the many ways we love and care for all 6 ladies we sponsor. They aren’t just any old university students to us. They are cared for and loved as family.

If we trust the journey we are on (we literally picked this out today on a Tuesday) we could be supporting 12 young women from Afghanistan by the end of this year! We’ve begun conversations with partnering organizations to see what future collaborations we can work on together to help support even more Afghan women seeking hope, freedom and an opportunity to further their education to make a difference in the world. But we need you and more supporters to come alongside us to make this a reality. #afghan #education #studies #university #school #nonprofit #haven #lynchburgva

For the 6 Afghan ladies we are currently supporting through Haven on Garland we sincerely hope that our work and our care and support inspires hope within them for their future and the future of the world. We couldn’t do any of this work without our supporters who encourage us and also financially support our work. We are supporting 6 but the need is tremendously greater. More students are looking to and wanting to attend the same university now, to get out of harms way now, looking for hope somewhere. A partnering organization shared this with us and about the crucial work we’re doing. “Thank you for continuing to provide such a supportive and warm environment for these women. Honestly, they do SO much better with the soft landing that you provide. It makes a huge difference.” To help ensure we have the necessary recourses to continue supporting the 6 that we currently have under our support umbrella and to build up recourses to hopefully welcome 2,4,… many more Afghan women in the coming months and next year we need your support. The need is so great for these women and we want to inspire and encourage hope for as many as we can. Would you consider supporting Haven on Garland with a financial gift and partnering alongside us in this work? Would you also consider sharing our story, and our mission with people that you know? Our dream is to have the funds necessary to purchase more housing close by our current site that will immmediately provide the opportunity for 3-6 more students plus the needed ongoing operational costs. https://lnkd.in/e5SC9WzD

What a typical Saturday morning looks like - shopping cart full purchasing food and weekly groceries for 6 Afghan university students in two different households. We find the best deals we can to help stretch our donor funds as far as possible.

What makes Haven on Garland unique? Yes, we currently provide financial and living expense sponsorship for 6 Afghan young ladies who are attending a local university, but we do so much more than just ensuring a student's tuition bill is covered. We enjoy family meals together (that are always halal) every single evening, talking about the joys and challenges faced each day. We provide guidance and support for life skills, work skills, driving skills and overall well being. We provide emotional and physical support in joining them along their various doctor's visits to ensure their voices are heard and they get the attention they need. We provide transportation to and from the university, especially during inclement weather. We ensure they all have the proper clothes for all of the four seasons in Virginia, giving them the opportunity to express themselves (or not) in whatever ways they feel the most inspired. Each one of these students is treated as if they were a child of ours. It's one small way we can honor and respect their parents back home who worry about their children and their well-being. Haven on Garland lives into its name, as a true haven, a place of safety, of rest, of comfort, of inspiration, a place of peace. Learn more about our work, our story and discover ways you can join us in this work and mission. We're only getting started. www.havenongarland.org

As a way to reach a wider audience with further vetting than just our website page, we've created a GoFundMe to help us raise funds to meet our full 2025 budgeted needs. Please share with your friends and family and colleagues. Of course giving directly on our website gets the funds to us quicker and with a cheaper processing fee, we would still be glad to have the support through GoFundMe if it creates a larger network and awareness to our organization and the work we are doing. https://lnkd.in/e_Z6hJUT

We stand with Afghan women, especially we stand with the six Afghan women who we support and sponsor connected through Haven on Garland as they pursue their educational dreams and goals in an environment and living situation that is peaceful, caring and loving. Even though our work might be limited in scope with the greater need that exists in the world with the plight of Afghan women, we still continue to find ways to grow and support more and more as best as we can.

2025 UPDATE: It wouldn't be another semester without another addition. We started off 2025 with us supporting 5 Afghan women attending a local university and now we're welcoming a 6th! This wasn't part of any planned addition, but an opportunity presented itself for us to step up to support another student who was in a dire situation and we thankfully had the capacity and the exact space to welcome on board a new student. As has happened every semester after welcoming our first student 1.5 years ago the need of our support and sponsorship continues to grow. We are constantly looking at ways how we can continue to grow and provide a loving, caring, and supportive family for Afghan women seeking to further their education in a safe and loving environment. All of your support helps us achieve this goal. Please consider joining us today in making a difference in the lives of these women. They are family to us and we know they will all make a difference in this world, living their lives in service to others. https://lnkd.in/eFSKbCBh

Tonight’s dinner at Haven on Garland: kuku (Afghan street food). One of the many, many joys in having all Five of the Afghan women supported by Haven on Garland (and supported by you all since 100% of donations goes directly to their care), is having them cook and share food from their home country. We long for the day we can all travel safely to Afghanistan and they can show us their home as we have invited them into ours. Learn more about Haven on Garland: www.havenongarland.org