Refugee Aid

Some of the thousands of destitute and traumatized refugee families that were stranded at our southern border are at last able to enter the US to exercise their lawful right to apply for asylum. Many of these families find respite at the Welcome Center in Phoenix while they await travel to sponsors across the US. With your kind donation, Refugee Aid is able to support the vital work of the Welcome Center as well as Phoenix area churches who provide similar aid.  

Your financial contribution also allows Refugee Aid to provide support to impoverished refugee shelters in our sister-city of Mexicali where thousands of refugees continue to wait in hope of having their asylum rights restored. 

Refugee Aid is grateful for the generosity of supporters who enable us to move forward in our efforts to assist refugee families, particularly women and children. 

Thank you!

Many refugee children are stranded in the border town of Mexicali because their mothers’  rights to apply  for asylum have been curtailed.


Many of the the asylum seekers are moms who have traveled 2,000 miles with a child or children.


Refugees, primarily from Guatemala and Honduras, countries plagued by gang violence and drugs, hope to make a better    life for themselves and their children.


Many parents make the journey seeking asylum, even with babies they must carry.

Asylum seeking moms hoping to make a better life for their kids, free of gang and drug related violence.

WHAT YOU CAN DO TODAY - It is an EMERGENCY: 

Donate now to provide supplies to homeless shelters in Mexicali, where refugee families wait  months to apply for asylum and have their cases heard.   Your donation can make a huge difference to a family in need!

YOUR GENEROUS DONATIONS ARE GREATLY APPRECIATED TO HELP US PURCHASE:

·   Rice, beans, coffee and dry milk for babies; 

·   Gently used clothing and shoes for all ages; 

.    Toiletries for bathing and caring for babies and children;

.    Cleaning supplies to insure healthy and clean facilities; 

·    Children’s books, coloring books and crayons, and small stuffed animals for hugging.

Your donations and our hard-working volunteers make these efforts possible. Thank you for your contributions!

A thank you poster from grateful families in a Mexicali shelter.

Little boys of all nationalities love receiving a soccer ball.


About our Founder

When Mary Jo  Miller saw the horrifying images of  crying children, forcibly taken from their parents she was appalled.   If the federal government was going to so cruelly treat desperate  families who simply seek  asylum from intolerable  conditions in their home countries, she  knew she had to do something. 

She began talking to interested members of her book group and others about forming a grassroots organization to help.  From an initial meeting of a handful of concerned  women in July 2018, Refugee Aid was born.  That organization has now grown to over 150 volunteers.

Mary Jo and her husband Ken with a  refugee father and son.