Jeannette Horwitz: Respecting America’s Immigrant Heritage

Horwitz described her first days on the job as a “baptism by fire”. As the new program coordinator for Welcome Dayton, her first task was to complete the application to recertify as a Welcoming Community. That meant acquiring information from her government colleagues and the program’s partners to address the 103 requirements listed in the original Welcoming Standard. Those requirements spanned seven categories:

• Government Leadership
• Equitable Access
• Civic Engagement
• Connected Communities
• Education
• Economic Development
• Safe Communities

Horwitz had to collect a lot of detailed information relating to such areas as community representation in government staffing, immigrant access to healthcare and information about business, job, and community engagement opportunities, and the range of partnership programs designed to strengthen ties between immigrant residents and US-born citizens. She was concerned that her new colleagues and partners might not trust her with the information she needed from them.

So, her first assignment turned out to be a crash course both in relationship building and the program’s scope and structure.

Horwitz navigated the situation successfully, and the program was recertified in 2022. Now, four years later, she gets to do it all over again, though this time she has 106 criteria spread across the same seven categories and five new tiers defined in an upgraded Welcoming Standard 2.0. (“Government Leadership” has been expanded to “Government and Community Leadership”.)

In between recertifications, Horwitz oversaw the blossoming of Dayton’s Global Artisan Market, the product of a partnership between Welcome Dayton and the 2nd Street Market, the city’s popular farmer’s market. 2nd Street’s organizers had approached Horwitz about developing a showcase for the talents of immigrant artists and entrepreneurs and their cultural heritage. Artisans were given space to show and sell their goods as well as training on how to table (i.e. to set up a table, display their wares, and more) and price them. The result has been a twice-a-year event in which different members of the immigrant community are invited to share and sell their wares — from handcrafted toys to baked goods, each reflecting the cultural heritage of the maker’s homeland.

Horwitz says the market has grown each year, and now, in its fifth year, she is fielding a request for a third event in a larger venue. She noted that, as enticing as the opportunity might be, she needed to make sure the new event would not diminish the other two.

Horwitz also oversees Welcome Dayton’s participation in the New Americans Art Exhibit, a showcase of immigrant art held at the city library. It’s another opportunity to introduce long-time residents to the different cultures that their new neighbors hail from.

She is particularly proud of — and inspired by — the participation of many locally-born residents who volunteer to support these efforts, from help with the framing of artwork to the design of promotional flyers and advertisements to training these cultural ambassadors on how to table and price their goods.

Welcome Dayton emerged as a solution to decades of declining population and job loss in Dayton. In 2011, Thomas Wahlrab, executive director of the City of Dayton’s Human Relations Council, spearheaded a series of conversations with more than 85 members of the community who chose to embrace the city’s growing immigrant population with the Welcome Dayton Plan. Its stated objective was “to become a nationally recognized Immigrant Friendly City.”

Formally proposed by Mayor Gary Leitzell (I) and passed by the City Commission in October that year, Welcome Dayton very quickly achieved national — and even international — recognition. Early results cited by the American Immigration Council suggest the program was succeeding: foreign-born residents were more than twice as likely to start a new business in Dayton than native-born citizens and had contributed more than $15 million in state and local taxes.

In 2013, Wahlrab, as principal architect of the Welcome Dayton Plan, was honored as a Champion of Change by the Obama White House.

In explaining the plan, Wahlrab wrote, “The Welcome Dayton Plan is designed to enhance the potential of Dayton as a competitor in the global economy by attracting immigrants who bring new ideas, new perspectives, new resources and new talent to our workforce.”

Now in its 15th year, Welcome Dayton became Welcoming America’s first Certified Welcoming Community in 2017. In the context of the country’s immigration and asylum laws, which offer foreign-born people a path to residency and citizenship, local programs like Dayton’s provide a needed bridge to reduce the many obstacles that limit immigrant and refugee assimilation. Welcoming America adds an important layer of coordination and visibility to these programs.

Today, Welcoming America recognizes 45 Certified Welcoming Communities in 22 states, including four others in Ohio — the cities of Cuyahoga Falls and Toledo, Cuyahoga County, and Lucas County. Its Welcoming Network includes more than 300 local governments and nonprofits.

Neighboring Springfield, subject of the hateful lie during the 2024 presidential campaign about immigrants eating cats and dogs, launched its Welcome Springfield program in 2014, seeking to follow Dayton’s success in attracting immigrants and rejuvenating the local economy. Springfield, however, has declined to join the Welcoming Network, erroneously citing a $12,000 fee. That fee covers the application and audit for certification as a Welcoming Community. Membership in the Welcoming Network is based on population; according to pricing on the organization’s website, for Springfield, the fee would be $1,000.

Despite Dayton residents’ widespread acceptance of their immigrant neighbors, the city’s immigrant and refugee community is experiencing the strain of living under the policies of the second Trump presidency. Horwitz explained that in the last year, her group has seen registrations for a community ID card drop by as much as 75%. The card, known as the Miami Valley Community ID, was originally proposed as part of the Welcome Dayton plan to make it easier for people who lack a driver’s license or other government ID, including some immigrants, refugees, and the homeless, to access essential services.

Similarly, she reported, “I’ve gotten so many emails that the June, July, August naturalization ceremonies have been canceled, and they’re usually two a month with about 40 to 50 people.”

One of Welcome Dayton’s main partners, the Catholic Social Services, changed its focus from refugee resettlement to refugee services because, according to Horwitz, there are so few individuals to resettle. The influx of refugees has stopped, and so has the federal grant funding, which led to layoffs among the Catholic Social Services staff.

Welcome Dayton is adapting to the new circumstances surrounding immigration policies and enforcement. Horwitz noted there have been training sessions for community members interested in learning how to organize and protect their neighbors. While she and her colleagues can’t, as government employees, take a position on ICE actions or other aspects of the president’s immigration policies, they are able to pass along information about what other communities are doing.

“Welcoming America has been very supportive, especially in these challenging times,” says Horwitz. “We’ve had Zoom calls where we connect with other programs in the network to learn what’s going on elsewhere around the country. Then we’re able to share that information here in Dayton.”