WHO ARE WE?
“Hospitality means we take people into the space that is our lives and our minds and our hearts and our work and our efforts. Hospitality is the way we come out of ourselves. It is the first step towards dismantling the barriers of the world.”
The Spero Project is a local non-profit organization that welcomes resettled refugees by connecting our new neighbors to people, resources and learning opportunities that make Oklahoma City a place of belonging.
Spero began in 2009 after what was expected to be a six-week conversational English class in the Burmese community expanded into multiple nuanced partnerships and programs to welcome newly resettled neighbors.
In response to the leadership of the refugee community, Spero has evolved in substantial ways every year. We are proud of the quality and depth of programs offered to our new neighbors, but we will always hold these programs with open hands because they are designed to respond to the expressed needs of the community. Each year we add, evolve, and end programs and functions because the community has grown and evolved as well. Programs are not at the heart of Spero-- authentic, loving and welcoming relationships are.
It has been our honor to be part of this community over the years, both in offering and in receiving hospitality and welcome. Real welcome is concerned with the unique ways a person can both give and receive in the process of moving beyond guest and into family. The wonder of welcome is when we are fully free to be ourselves, we know our contributions are valued, and we are safe to express any needs that we have in return.
Because of this understanding, Spero has been postured to offer welcome to new neighbors with a unique understanding of U.S. systems, of language, and of cultural norms. And we have in every way been postured to receive welcome from our new neighbors with their unique expression of hospitality, community, wisdom, and strength.
Spero’s story is one of experiencing the wonder of welcome that happens when we are all welcomed into each other’s story and to each other’s tables. Being moved by the hope and hospitality modeled by the refugee community, we strive together to see Oklahoma City become the most welcoming city in the world.