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When Ihosef was a boy, he dreamed of airplanes. His mother Yolette worked as a legal consultant at an airport, and on the days when he came to work with her, the planes amazed him.
“I was always good at taking things apart and putting them back together,” says Ihosef. “Planes especially interested me. I always liked to see how versatile they were. I simply felt that aviation mechanics was for me.”
His dreams were jeopardized when they had to flee Venezuela due to conflict and economic turmoil. After a number of years in a second country, they came to the US as refugees. Through your partnership, you walked with Ihosef and Yolette, providing support in the areas of housing, employment counseling, academic assistance, language-learning, mental health support and more.
“When I arrived, I came with severe depression. I thought I was going to die working in a factory and that I wouldn’t know anything,” says Yolette. “Even though I could manage the language, and I had enrolled in a course, everything looked limited for me. Now though, I feel there are many possibilities for us.”
This summer, Ihosef visited Lewis University’s aviation mechanics program, applied for a major scholarship, and received it! “We have a saying that if you can see far off, it’s because good hands have boosted you,” says Yolette. “I think that describes how World Relief Chicagoland has helped us.”
“What I’m most proud of is my son [got the scholarship] all himself…If you’re a parent, you’ll understand. I had to be dad and mom at the same time for him, now I’m seeing my dreams through my son! In my country when you finish university you get a ring. So, there is this saying that the person who has a ring has a future. Now my son has this future, and I’m so proud.”
The journey from displacement to thriving is long and full of ups and downs. Ihosef and Yolette’s story is far from over, but your partnership is making a dream possible. For Ihosef and hundreds of other displaced families, you are laying a foundation for change that will impact generations. Thank you!