For one family in Bend, the welcome made all the difference

For more than 40 years, the U.S. has brought in refugees from around the world through a handful of resettlement agencies. But now a state department program called Welcome Corps creates a new avenue for refugees. It’s a community-based program where teams of people come together to sponsor families and ease their transition into American life.

That’s how Maria del Carmen Chaparro, her husband and two of her adult children arrived in Bend in December. The family first fled violence in their native Colombia and went to the neighboring country of Ecuador.