Zakat Foundation marks World Refugee Day with aid for displaced families

Zakat Foundation of America used World Refugee Day to spotlight the scale of global displacement and its programs across 14 countries. The group says its refugee-focused work reached more than 324,000 people from 2022 to 2025, with job training, housing, health care and food support in the U.S. and abroad. Why it matters: - Forced displacement has reached historic levels, with 117.3 million people currently displaced worldwide, or 1 in every 67 people on Earth. - UNHCR projects that total could rise to 136 million by the end of 2026. - Zakat Foundation of America is positioning refugee aid as long-term support, not short-term relief, by tying food, housing, education, health care and jobs together. What happened: - Zakat Foundation of America marked World Refugee Day by highlighting its refugee and humanitarian programs across 14 countries. - The organization said its refugee empowerment and humanitarian work reached 324,935 people from 2022 to 2025. - U.S.-based programs reached 84,763 beneficiaries. - Zakat Foundation of America also said it operates humanitarian assistance programs in more than 45 countries on five continents. The details: - Rohingya Cultural Center in Chicago served 49,836 people through case management, job placement, health services, food distribution, youth programs and childcare support. - Afghan Cultural Center Inc. in Chicago reached 4,577 beneficiaries through educational workshops, job fairs, legal aid and cultural programming. - A job placement and training partnership with Upwardly Global trained 3,431 refugees and placed 1,523 in professional roles. - The same job program reported an average starting salary of $65,000 and an 85% one-year job retention rate. - St. Bartholomew Catholic Church in Chicago has provided 626 asylum seekers from Venezuela, Colombia, Honduras and Peru with safe housing, medical care, legal assistance and employment support since May 2024. - Internationally, Zakat Foundation of America runs health clinics for Sudanese refugees in Chad. - The organization provides emergency relief in Lebanon, Libya, Jordan, Sudan and Ukraine. - Zakat Foundation of America operates vocational training centers in Amman and Irbid for Syrian and Palestinian refugees. - The group supports learning centers for Rohingya children in Bangladesh. - Zakat Foundation of America runs orphan sponsorship programs in Türkiye, Jordan, Lebanon, Libya and Palestine. - Food security programs from 2022 to 2025 reached more than 55,000 people through Ramadan food packages. - Udhiyah meat distribution reached more than 50,000 beneficiaries over the same period. - Al-Zahraa University in Türkiye was established in 2015 to provide free higher education in Arabic to Syrian refugee students. - Al-Zahraa University was staffed by Syrian professors in exile and graduated about 1,000 students before ending operations in 2021. - In Egypt, Zakat Foundation of America has supported more than 114 Gaza medical students at Mansoura University by covering tuition and internship costs after the Gaza crisis kept them from returning home. Between the lines: - The organization’s messaging centers on what it calls a holistic model for refugee empowerment. - That model spans seven program areas: Refugee Empowerment, Emergency Response, Food Security, Livelihoods, Education, Health and Well-Being and Orphan Sponsorship. - The scale of the Chicago programs shows that Zakat Foundation of America is pairing local refugee services with international aid work. - The organization frames its approach around “dignity before dependency,” signaling a focus on self-reliance as much as immediate relief. What’s next: - Zakat Foundation of America is expected to continue refugee and humanitarian programming across its global network. - The organization invited media requests through lindsey.b@zakat.org and said photos and videos are available on its website and social media. - Additional information is available at ZAKAT.org .