Family Nature Day at Elver Park

ODFR recently partnered with the Aldo Leopold Nature Center to host a family nature day at Elver Park! Though the weather wasn’t what we’d hoped for, we are so appreciative of the families for coming out and the ALNC for their awesome programming! This event included fun activities about animal skins, skulls, and scat, in […]

ODFR Community Picnic 2023

You’re invited to a potluck picnic! On Sunday, July 9th from 12-4pm at the Olin Park Pavilion in Madison, Open Doors for Refugees will host a picnic celebrating diversity and community. Come meet neighbors and enjoy an afternoon of delicious food, activities for all ages, and engaging music and dance entertainment representing the diversity of […]

Upcoming Volunteer Needs

Interested in helping out? Send an email to volunteers@odfr.org. Helping with Housewares A volunteer is needed to be part of a small team responsible for cleaning and organizing housewares used for setting up apartments for refugee families. Tasks This work also includes packing up all housewares needed to furnish kitchen, bathroom and bedrooms when apartments […]

A Huge Thanks to RPCV-Madison for Freeze for Food

406 runners and 50 volunteers participated in the event last Saturday, taking part in a 5k or 10k marathon by Lake Wingra. Roughly $15k has been donated – thanks all who participated! Check out the Freeze for Food Facebook page for more photos and post about it if you were able to attend!

Support Refugees & Food Security at Freeze for Food this Saturday

Walk, Run, or Jog to Support Refugees Looking to get outside to join others in helping refugees in Madison? This Saturday, March 4th at 12pm and 1pm CST, Freeze for Food is hosting a run/walk, where 100% of the profits will go to Open Doors. Learn more here: https://www.rpcvmadison.org/cpages/freeze-for-food A virtual support option is also […]

Open Doors is Hiring an Administrative Associate

Update: Thank you, we are no longer taking applications. After seven years of operation, dozens of partner organizations, scores of refugee families, hundreds of volunteers, and thousands of supporters, Open Doors has grown beyond our ability to manage and operate as an all-volunteer organization. Accordingly, we are looking to hire a half-time Administrative Associate. While this […]

Open Doors Stands in Solidarity with Migrants and Asylum Seekers

In September, Florida Governor Ron DeSantis used primarily Venezuelan migrants and asylum seekers in a political stunt.  The governor’s agents lured migrants and asylum seeking men, women, and children in San Antonio, Texas onto a Massachusetts-bound plane with a misleading brochure labelled ‘Refugee Migrant Benefits’ that promised them aid, including cash assistance. The plane abandoned the migrants unannounced […]

Music with Murishi

Murishi was born in Tanzania in 1996. His path as a refugee led him to the Congo, Burundi,and then in 2011, to Uganda. As a child, he could not afford a musical instrument, but he has alovely singing voice and by age 14, he was already writing music. His lyrics are about life, “birth,death, happiness, […]

Sewing with Sifa

Attendees at Congolese weddings, parties, or dowry celebrations are likely to see men and women attired in brightly colored African fabrics. Whether original or traditional in design, chances are good that Sifa has had her hand and machine in the garments’ construction. Sifa is a refugee from the Democratic Republic of Congo; as a child […]

Open Doors Info Meeting

What is Open Doors currently working on? And how can I help? Come meet several ODFR volunteers and other refugee-interested folks at the Pinney Library Community Room to answer these questions and more! June 29, 2022, 7:00 pm – 8:30 pm This will be the first in-person indoors event hosted by Open Doors since the […]