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Crafting for the Community

Global Refuge Staff

February 12, 2026

Growing up in a Lutheran family, Ann H. saw firsthand how to live out her faith through welcoming and standing with our vulnerable neighbors.

When she was younger, her parents helped a displaced couple from Europe find work and secure housing as they resettled into a new country and culture.

“To see the bonds that formed from that relationship really had an impact on me,” she says, adding that her parents remained close with the couple for over 25 years.

A member of a Lutheran church in Virginia, Ann answers the call to welcome the stranger through work with her congregation and through one very unique way—pottery making.

A creation by Ann.

After working for years as a research chemist, Ann discovered a love for working in clay when her sons were in elementary school. She eventually opened a home studio, where she continues to create and sell her crafts.

“I wanted to use my talents to help as much as I could,” says Ann, who sells mugs—some reading Child of God, others inspired by quilting designs—to raise money for causes she believes in, including Global Refuge.

To Ann, the mugs are symbolic. “Sitting down with someone over a cup of coffee—that simple act of kindness and connection is something we all need right now.”

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