Mission

Our Christian Identity

Renew is a faith-based, Christian, nonprofit organization that serves refugee women resettled in and around Dupage County, Illinois. Renew was founded in 2009 by a team of Christian women, for whom the mission of creating a space for refugee women to flourish represented a tangible way to serve refugees. This was in response to the biblical teachings given to us to show God's love to those in need, such as the widow, sojourner, and oppressed (Leviticus 19:33-34 ESV; Deuteronomy 10:18-19; Zechariah 7:9-10). In partnership with local churches, Renew provides a space for community members to build relationships with refugee women, learn about challenges encountered in resettlement, and live out their faith and love for Jesus Christ by serving refugee women.

Our Beginning

Renew was founded in 2009 out of one woman’s desire to empower refugee women she befriended in her neighborhood. After spending years with refugee communities in Africa, Rebecca Sandberg and her family moved back to the United States and settled in the Chicago suburbs. One night, she met a local refugee woman from Somalia, and they quickly became close friends. Through months of spending time together, Rebecca identified two needs of refugee women: a safe space for community and a space where they could earn income for their families. Renew was birthed out of a desire to empower refugee women to gain a marketable skill in a dignified and flexible work environment, and flourish in a safe community of women. Surrounded by friends and the local church, Renew ministers to refugee women through vocation and friendship.