A non-profit in Dallas hosted Thanksgiving dinner for dozens of refugees Thursday. Gateway of Grace has been hosting the celebration the past 15 years.
Dennis Page and his wife, Samira, launched Gateway of Grace; Samira Page is a refugee from Iran who had to leave as a Christian.
Refugees gathered at a church in East Dallas Thursday afternoon. Dennis Page says 350 people from a dozen countries said they were planning to attend.
"I think people just have come to appreciate being part of such a community, a fun holiday where we celebrate and make them feel welcomed," he says.
Gateway of Grace works with refugees to help them learn English, find jobs and learn American customs.
"That's just part of our integration process, helping them understand this comprehensive and fast-paced society," Page says.
"One of the most important things Gateway of Grace is doing for people like me is family enrichment and learning how things work here," says an Iranian refugee who moved to the United States in 2024. "It's kind of making a bridge, lifting two cultures and people from different nationalities."
She says she had to leave Iran because she is Christian. Gateway of Grace helped her learn American culture and meet people.
"This country welcomed me," she says. "It's about safety, blessings. I love this country; I love this land."
Last month, the Trump Administration set the number of refugees who would be allowed into the United States in 2026 at 7,500, the lowest cap on record. The Economic Policy Institute says the Department of State also suspended funding to organizations that help refugees find housing, jobs and other needs during their first three months in the United States.
Page says nonprofits like Gateway of Grace are serving a greater need as other agencies reach the end of the budget year with "no expectations of being funded for 2026." He says a lot of refugees are facing the end of SNAP and other benefits, so Gateway of Grace is working with food pantries and other organizations to meet their needs.
"No one wakes up on a given day and decides to dismantle the life they know, set off to a land they don't know, a language they don't know with no job, no security," Page says. "They are fleeing situations where they have seen or experienced the worst of humanity or they have seen and experienced different types of natural disasters."
Page says help from nonprofits in Texas can help refugees become "thriving members of society."
"The beauty of this event today is very similar to the first Thanksgiving even though it wasn't called Thanksgiving," he says. "You had people from two radically different cultures, radically different lands, they didn't speak one another's language, but they gathered around food in appreciation of what they had been through over the previous year."
More information about Gateway of Grace is available at https://www.gatewayofgrace.org/.