• Contact Us
  • Events calendar
Entering Swellesley
Pinnacle, Wellesley

The Swellesley Report

More than you really want to know about Wellesley, Mass.

  • Advertise
  • Contribute
  • Eat
  • Wellesley Square
  • School
  • Top 10 things to do
  • Embracing diversity
  • Charities/Community
  • Arts
  • Camp
  • Kids
  • Events
  • About us
  • Subscribe
  • Natick Report
  • COVID-19
  • Letters to the Editor
Needham Bank, Wellesley
Boston Sports Institute, Wellesley

Wellesley High School students help refugees turn the Next Page

July 28, 2020 by Deborah Brown Leave a Comment

According to the Center for Immigration Studies, in FY 2019, (October 1, 2018 to September 30, 2019), a total of 30,000 refugees were resettled in the United States. Once they gain entrance to the country, refugees need assistance with basics such as affordable housing, school supplies, English language acquisition, and finding a job.

Next Page, Wellesley
Zona Sherman, a ceramicist, is one of the artists partnering with Next Page.

A group of Wellesley High School students searching for a way to help hit upon the idea of starting a non-profit that would tackle the most pressing needs of the newly arrived. Ela Eryilmaz, Lauren Pryor, and Isabella Remedios, along with several additional WHS students, have started a non-profit called Next Page, created to help refugees thrive after they go through the initial resettlement process and start work toward putting down roots in a community. The goal of Next Page is to donate funds to local shelters and programs that provide English as an Additional Language classes, job opportunities, housing, and other services that help refugees turn the next page in the current chapter of their lives.

To raise funds the organization connects artisans and buyers through Instagram (@officialnextpage), and soon to an e-commerce website. Part of the money from the art pieces sold will go to the artist, generally a creative with a strong belief in Next Page’s mission (seven artists have so far signed on). Part of the funds raised will be used by Next Page in order to continue their social impact work. The main revenue needs are those to create the e-commerce website, register as a 501(c)(3), and buy items to donate to the programs and shelters.

The groups that Next Page are working with are the US Committee for Refugees and Immigrants; The Refugee and Immigrant Assistance Center; and the International Institute of New England; all with locations in Boston.

Eryilmaz, a rising junior who is fluent in both English and Turkish, says she is drawn to helping refugees, as she has seen at least part of their journey first-hand. She was so moved by her experiences in Turkey that she wrote a poem that reads in in part, “The elderly had sorrow in their eyes, staring at the sea with memories of the abandoned homeland./Kids played with deflated balls, broken plastic cars, reusable water bottles, rocks, old books — not understanding the situation./What we saw in the pictures became a reality/We drove to the villages on the mountain tops…”

The US Department of Homeland Security defines a refugee as “a person outside his or her country of nationality who is unable or unwilling to return to his or her country of nationality because of persecution or a well-founded fear of persecution on account of race, religion, nationality, membership in a particular social group, or political opinion.”

Eryilmaz doesn’t quibble with that definition, but she finds inspiration in author Khaled Hosseini’s broader view of the matter: “Refugees are mothers, fathers, sisters, brothers, children, with the same hopes and ambitions as us—except that a twist of fate has bound their lives to a global refugee crisis on an unprecedented scale.”

print

Share

Filed Under: Art, Clubs, Embracing diversity, Fundraising, Volunteering

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Linden Square, Wellesley
Write Ahead

Tip us off…

Please send tips, photos, ideas to [email protected]
Wellesley Square ad
Wellesley, Jesamondo
Sexton test prep
Feldman Law
Fay School, Southborough
Wellesley Theatre Project
Admit Fit, Wellesley
image of Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19)
  • Facebook
  • Instagram
  • Twitter
Never miss a post with our free daily Swellesley Report email
Name: 
Your email address:*
Please wait...
Please enter all required fields Click to hide
Correct invalid entries Click to hide

You can subscribe for free, though we appreciate any contribution that supports our independent journalism.

Click here to read our Natick Report

Natick Report

Events Calendar

« January 2021 » loading...
S M T W T F S
27
28
29
30
31
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
20
21
22
23
24
25
26
27
28
29
30
31
1
2
3
4
5
6
Tue 26

Rum tasting and history talk

January 26 @ 6:00 pm - 7:00 pm
Wed 27

Online history lecture: Petticoat Whalers

January 27 @ 7:30 pm - 8:30 pm
Thu 28

Banking on Our Value panel discussion

January 28 @ 6:00 pm - 7:00 pm

Most Read Posts

  • "I Care a Lot" movie that filmed in Wellesley making Netflix debut
  • Wellesley Police log: Rocky relationship between neighbors; laptop goes missing from home; money gone from locker
  • Pinnacle Residential Properties: the concept of home & roots
  • Wellesley Business Buzz: Local restaurants get state grants; get or renew your Business Certificate
  • Wellesley summer camp listings 2021 — find the experience of a lifetime

Pages

  • Wellesley coronavirus (COVID-19) updates
  • Wellesley’s 7 official scenic roads
  • Wellesley, Mass., fishing spots
  • Please support our advertisers—they support us
  • Embracing diversity in Wellesley
  • Wellesley, MA Police logs
  • Wellesley Choral Society
  • Wellesley College Notable Alumnae
  • Wellesley College, Wellesley, Mass.
  • Wellesley outdoor art gallery
  • Wellesley restaurants offering take-out and delivery
  • Wellesley, Massachusetts restaurant — Amarin of Thailand

Recent Comments

  • Susanne Conover on Wellesley Health Dept. COVID-19 update: Talking vaccines, fielding complaints & working around the clock
  • Kourosh Farboodmanesh on Opinion: Massachusetts needs to introduce renewable energy programs in every town and city
  • devin on Wellesley Police log: Rocky relationship between neighbors; laptop goes missing from home; money gone from locker
  • Bob Brown on “I Care a Lot” movie that filmed in Wellesley making Netflix debut
  • Juli on “I Care a Lot” movie that filmed in Wellesley making Netflix debut

Links we like

  • Great Runs
  • Jack Sanford: Wellesley's Major League Baseball Star
  • Taquitos.net
  • Tech-Tamer
  • The Wellesley Wine Press
  • Universal Hub
  • Wellesley Sports Discussion Facebook Group

Categories

  • 2021 Town Election (4)
  • Animals (377)
  • Antiques (48)
  • Art (534)
  • Beyond Wellesley (28)
  • Books (343)
  • Business (1,358)
  • Camp (1)
  • Careers/jobs (44)
  • Churches (72)
  • Clubs (207)
  • Construction (280)
  • Dump (113)
  • Education (2,880)
    • Babson College (239)
    • Bates Elementary School (14)
    • Dana Hall School (29)
    • Fiske Elementary School (6)
    • Hardy Elementary School (33)
    • Hunnewell Elementary School (34)
    • MassBay (47)
    • Schofield Elementary School (20)
    • Sprague Elementary School (19)
    • St. John School (1)
    • Tenacre Country Day School (9)
    • Upham Elementary School (30)
    • Wellesley College (598)
    • Wellesley High School (884)
    • Wellesley Middle School (195)
  • Embracing diversity (38)
  • Entertainment (722)
  • Environment (667)
  • Fashion (133)
  • Finance (13)
  • Fire (141)
  • Food (327)
  • Fundraising (559)
  • Gardens (136)
  • Government (386)
    • 2020 Town Election (47)
  • Health (737)
    • COVID-19 (134)
  • History (358)
  • Holidays (365)
  • Houses (118)
  • Humor (45)
  • Kids (814)
  • Law (3)
  • Letters to the Editor (6)
  • Media (63)
  • METCO (5)
  • Military (3)
  • Morses Pond (96)
  • Music (543)
  • Natick Report (27)
  • Neighbors (243)
  • Obituaries (58)
  • Outdoors (582)
  • Parenting (60)
  • Police (688)
    • Crime (345)
  • Politics (534)
  • Real estate (286)
  • Religion (127)
  • Restaurants (302)
  • Safety (142)
  • Scouts (1)
  • Senior citizens (107)
  • Shopping (121)
  • Sports (897)
  • STEM (104)
  • Technology (154)
  • Theatre (383)
  • Town Meeting (22)
  • Transportation (209)
  • Travel (11)
  • Uncategorized (1,205)
  • Volunteering (317)
  • Weather (161)
  • Wellesley Election 2019 (21)
  • Wellesley Free Library (258)
  • Wellesley's Wonderful Weekend (5)
RSS Feed Icon Subscribe to RSS Feed

© 2021 The Swellesley Report
Site by Tech-Tamer · Login