Purpose
The Immigrant Welcome Center strongly values and works to foster community and collaboration with all our clients, community partners, and like-minded individuals across Greater Portland. With this in mind, we created our third floor space to bring people together to learn, work, and socialize. Learn about our third floor programs and how you can get involved below.
chai hour
Beginning September 2023, our third floor space is open to the public for Chai Hour every Thursday from 1-4pm. We have a café space fully stocked with tea and coffee, a variety of board games, and comfortable seating perfect for gathering with your fellow community members. All are welcome to join us for Chai Hour, but we’d like to extend a special welcome to elderly immigrant communities.
The Chai Hour initiative was made possible by a grant from the Southern Maine Agency on Aging.
africa to maine photo exhibit
Africa to Maine is a photo exhibit assembled by IWC to open a window on immigrants’ perspective of their homelands. The pictures in this exhibition are highly personal family photographs taken by Mainers of African descent. Maine’s Africans arrived here as refugees from violence with few possessions – but one thing portable enough to travel across continents and oceans, and holding deep personal meaning, was a handful of cherished family photographs. Posed group portraits or candid snapshots, they depict relatives and friends, social occasions and everyday scenes in Angola, Burundi, D.R. Congo, Egypt, Kenya, Somalia, Sudan, Uganda and Zambia, between the 1960’s and 2022.
The exhibit was displayed at the Portland Public Library March 24 – June 18, 2023 and is currently housed in our 3rd floor café community space. Stop by Chai Hour and see the exhibit! In the mean time, click here to learn more about the exhibit, its contributors, and view a digital gallery.
iwc programs
Some IWC programs also use our 3rd floor space. We host a variety of classes in English, cooking, and digital literacy throughout our offices. You can view the schedule of live classes (English conversation, cooking) on our event calendar. Other courses occur on an appointment basis (digital literacy, online English class); you can email info@welcomeimmigrant.org for more information or to book an appointment.
Our new Women Lead program is also held on our third floor. Learn more about this new initiative here.