Elena's Light

10/15/2026

A place to learn and feel at home 🏡

At the grand opening of Elena’s Light’s community center, we celebrated the people and community who made this possible. After years of bringing programs to life virtually, we’re excited to welcome refugee and immigrant women and youth in person and create even more opportunities to grow.

Thank you to everyone who joined us and helped bring this dream to life. This is just the beginning! ✨

A special thanks to our wonderful speakers who brought so much light into the room:

Celia Toche
Bonnie Leon
Michael Piscitelli
Senator Richard Blumenthal
Lindy Lee Gold
Leslie Koons
& many more 💕

Learn more or support our work at ElenasLight.org

10/13/2026

"I knew that if we stopped learning, we would disappear."

At just 12 years old, Fereshteh Ganjavi began teaching Afghan refugees in a secret classroom in Tehran. Even when the school was repeatedly shut down by the government, she kept going—because she believed in the power of education.

After a three-year refugee process, Fereshteh arrived in the US in 2011. Today, that same belief in the power of education remains at the heart of Elena’s Light 🧡

Honor Fereshteh’s 15-year journey with a $15 donation and help create more opportunities for refugee and immigrant women and children.

✨ Give your $15 gift: givebutter.com/15years-EL

10/09/2026

ICYMI, we have a new home! Thanks for sharing the great news, Arts Council & Abiba Biao 💖

We're thrilled to officially open our doors in New Haven and create a third space for refugee women and immigrant children, where we can expand our programming. All are welcome 🫶

Last Saturday, refugee activists, supporters, and volunteers celebrated the opening of Elena’s Light’s new community center located on 436 Orange St.

10/07/2026

✨ Nine years in the making! ✨ We’re so excited to announce the grand opening of our community center—a permanent space where we can expand our programs come together IRL.

Our team has done an incredible job hosting many of our programs virtually, but we can’t wait to welcome everyone in person and finally have a space to call our own!

We hope that this is just the beginning. We’ll share more soon as we develop new classes for refugee and immigrant women and youth, including expanded language classes, STEM education, leadership development, and job-readiness programs.

Stay tuned and thank you for being part of our journey! To support our work, visit ElenasLight.org ❤️

10/01/2026

We have some exciting news coming! 🎉

Thanks to your incredible support, Elena’s Light is expanding our programs this fall—helping more refugee and immigrant children access educational opportunities and more women build confidence and independence.

Our community made this possible by volunteering, organizing donation drives, and welcoming our immigrant neighbors with open arms. Stay tuned—we can’t wait to share more very soon! 💛

09/29/2026

💃 Hugs, good food, and dancing—our World Refugee & Immigrant Festival was a celebration of us: our cultures, our identities, and the joy that happens when we come together.

🫶🏽 A day to celebrate who we are, not just live in fear.

A big thanks to the amazing immigrant serving orgs & partners: IRIS - Integrated Refugee & Immigrant Services CRIW - The Collective for Refugee & Immigrant Women's Wellbeing Havenly Dixwell "Q" House The Community Foundation for Greater New Haven International Association of New Haven - IANH Sanctuary Kitchen at CitySeed Refugee Congress CT Students for a Dream Mayor Justin Elicker

09/24/2026

What an honor! Thank you to The South Asian Bar Association of CT for presenting Elena’s Light with the Founders Award.

It means so much to be recognized ❤ Our Board Chair, Leslie Koons, accepted the award, presented by Asker Saeed.

Our work is rooted in the belief that refugee and immigrant women are not only recipients of support—they are leaders, educators, caregivers, workers, and community builders.

We are especially honored to be recognized alongside organizations who also uplift refugee and immigrant communities in Connecticut 💕

09/23/2026

Research should begin with the community 🧡

For the past few years, we’ve brought physicians, researchers, and our refugee neighbors together to develop more patient-centered healthcare research.

From children’s mental health and language access to housing and financial challenges, refugees’ lived experiences help us better understand the barriers they face—and shape solutions that reflect their needs.

We’re grateful to the Patient-Centered Outcomes Research Institute (PCORI), Dwight Hall at Yale | Center for Public Service and Social Justice Yale School of Medicine Dr. Cheng, Dr. O’Malley, Dr. Brown, and our refugee neighbors for making this work possible.

09/23/2026

So 👏🏽 much 👏🏽 joy 👏🏽 at our World Refugee & Immigrant Festival. From live music and global cuisine to spontaneous dance sessions and so much more, we loved every minute of it!

Thank you to every neighbor, partner, performer, volunteer, and speaker who made this celebration possible. Together, we honored the cultures and new beginnings that make our community so special 💛

A special thank you to: International Association of New Haven - IANH The Community Foundation for Greater New Haven Havenly CRIW - The Collective for Refugee & Immigrant Women's Wellbeing IRIS - Integrated Refugee & Immigrant Services Sanctuary Kitchen at CitySeed Mayor Justin Elicker Dixwell "Q" House

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