As a yoga teacher at mActivity, one of the most inspiring parts of my job is meeting people from all over the world in the classes I teach. A few weeks ago, I stayed after class to help a student get into a headstand she was struggling to do alone. We found her first balanced inversion, and we were so excited that we had accomplished this physical feat together, we ended up staying at mActivity even later—talking about her family in California, her fiance’s family in Germany, and about finding a new sense of home in New Haven.
This sense of home is something I had been searching for myself since moving to Connecticut from Michigan. Moving away from the place I was born made me think a lot about what home really means. And after more than a year of living here, I think home is more than a person or a physical place—home is ultimately a feeling; a sense of warmth and inclusion.
Part of our mActivity mission is to offer this kind of second home to nonprofits like our friends at Integrated Refugee and Immigrant Services (IRIS). Recently, we spoke with IRIS Executive Director Chris George and Development Specialist Kelly Hebrank to learn more about how mActivity can help make New Haven feel like home for refugees.
“It takes the support of a community to help refugees adjust to their new country and become self-sufficient,” Chris shared. “mActivity has been the best neighbor, and has generously hosted several IRIS receptions. Registering for the Run For Refugees 5K is one other small thing all citizens can do to join in community spirit. You don’t even need to run, you can just walk!”
The original story accompanied the February 4, 2018 Run for Refugees, which supported IRIS programs for refugee families. That event has passed; this archive preserves the story of the community effort.
“After the election last year, there was a swell of New Haven community support for IRIS and the Run for Refugees reached 2,500 participants. This year, we changed our course to one that runs flat through all of East Rock to accommodate more people,” said Kelly. “Our goal is to sign up 3,000 registrants.” There are currently 1,200 registrants this year.
mActivity supported that year’s event through sponsorship, a staff team, and race-packet pickup at the gym.
We will celebrate afterward with international food from local restaurants like Claire’s Corner Copia, Mediterranea, and Green Leaf Catering. And who knows? After spending the day surrounded by your community, you might even be inspired to make friends with a new neighbor—whether from Sudan, Syria or the next street over.