Here’s who we are:
Nations to Neighbors Montana (N2N) is a non-profit community organization and network of Billings residents dedicated to supporting refugees who are resettled in our community. We come alongside refugees in Billings to help ensure their successful integration into American life.
N2N was born in 2021 as a community-based private sponsorship group to welcome Afghans who were evacuated by the US government after the fall of Kabul. A handful of Billings community leaders joined with an impressive outpouring of volunteers to warmly welcome four Afghan families. N2N helped these families find employment and housing, helped them navigate the many systems (transportation, shopping, medical, etc.) in American life, and developed cherished friendships with them.
With the establishment of a federally-funded refugee resettlement office in Billings in Spring 2024, N2N pivoted to providing resettled refugees much-needed support over the long welcome – the time it takes to learn how to navigate in a new culture, learn the everyday “systems” we take for granted, and build meaningful community relationships. Though the United States Refugee Admissions Program is no longer receiving new arrivals into the United States, N2N remains committed to working alongside the existing refugee community in Billings to ensure success in their school, work, and social lives.
MISSION
Our mission is to promote the successful integration of refugees into our community by coming alongside them in meaningful relationships and with practical support.
VISION
We envision a community where refugees are fully integrated, thriving, and actively contributing to the collective well-being of their new home.
Our Core Values
Dignity
We believe that every individual is created in the image and likeness of God and therefore has intrinsic value and worth. We also believe that experiences of even extreme hardship do not define a person--that no one is defined by a single story (Adichie, 2009). Therefore, we will support our new neighbors' dignity in our work and communication with them and in the community.
Listening Oriented
We recognize refugees arrive with a history, a vast array of experiences, knowledge, and a diversity of skills. We further recognize that refugee welcome creates the opportunity for mutual learning. Therefore, we will learn from our new neighbors what their hopes for the future are and how they understand their needs. We will support their agency in building a flourishing life here.
Neighborly Love
We believe that the call to love and welcome the stranger in our midst is not limited by cultural or ethnic boundaries (Deut. 10:18-19, Matthew 25:35). Therefore, we will honor God by loving our neighbors as ourselves (Mark 12:31).
Belonging
We see the intersection of our lives with that of our new neighbors as an opportunity for building community. We understand that assisting their integration goes beyond helping them navigate the many new experiences and systems, and believe that relationship can be transformative. Therefore, we will walk alongside our new neighbors during their time of resettlement and foster belonging in all that we do.
Nations to Neighbors Montana stands behind the six principles of immigration reform set forth by the Evangelical Immigration Table (EIT). We support EIT’s call for a bipartisan solution to the immigration challenges in the US that fulfills these key, fundamental principles.