Host Home Training

About the DASH Hosting Program – 8 minute read

Eligibility Requirements for Involvement

 

• Rule of Faith:  Must affirm belief in the basic Christian faith, as prescribed in the Nicene Creed
• Must be involved in a Christian Church of any denomination 
• Must have the time, capability, and willingness to serve
• Must have a spare bedroom or other room that can be converted into a bedroom
• Must be willing to assist the asylum seeker with initial transportation from the airport or bus station to their home (Most applicable for hosts not in the DFW area)
• Must purchase and pass a background check and complete a child safety training course through Protect My Ministry (about $20 per person; Director of Operations or Social Services can assist with this)

Why do we have the “rule of faith” for many volunteer roles?

• We are an openly Christian non-profit: Like any church or missions organization, DASH Network is an openly faith-based, Christ-centered non-profit. We believe the Bible is true, and while many within our culture say “all paths lead to heaven,” “we can never really know,” and “that is truth for you,” Scripture boldly responds that “salvation is found in no other name’: Jesus Christ. Therefore, at the deepest level, help and hope are found only through Jesus. As an organization, we accept the Nicene Creed (a statement of the basic historical Christian beliefs stretching across all mainline denominations) as our organization’s statement of faith.
• “In response:” Our mission statement states that we love and serve “in response to the compassionate and welcoming love of Jesus.” If a person has not had their lives transformed by experiencing the love of Jesus, they cannot serve in response to this love of Jesus. Therefore, those who are not yet Christians cannot fully embrace or live out our mission statement.
• Discipleship is a big part of our mission: Our methodology is a two-handed approach: We serve both the physical and relational needs. Relational needs include one’s relationship to creation, self, others, and God. It is part of our mission, methodology, and volunteer training to help both volunteers and asylum seekers take steps toward a deeper relationship with Christ through their involvement with DASH. As volunteers, we aim to be a family of disciples serving on a mission. Before we adopted this rule of faith, some non-Christian volunteers encouraged asylum seekers away from their faith during a time when they needed the help and strength of Christ most. This runs contrary to our mission. While there is no rule of faith for our residents, we expect our volunteers, and particularly host families, to share the hope and truth of Christ with others and not to lead them away from faith.
• We are church based: We started as the ministry of a church in Fort Worth: the City Church. We believe the Church has a biblical calling to care for the least of these. Even as we have grown to become a non-profit, we desire to continue partnering with local churches, replicating our partnership with the City Church. We also help other church groups to start ministries like DASH in their own congregations. 

Hosting Process 

1. Inquire about the possibility of hosting with Director of Social Services
   1. Receive general information about who asylum seekers are
      1. Generalities about DASH Network and the hosting program
         1. The typical hosting commitment lasts around 2 years
2. If still interested, complete next steps.
   1. Submit the host application
   2. Submit the Waiver and Release of Liability form
   3. Read host training material and write down any questions to discuss with the Director of Social Services
3. Have a home study video call or in-person meeting with the Director of Social Services and/or the Director of Operations.
   1. About 2 hours long
   2. Includes a walk through of your home and a series of questions
   3. Time to ask any questions you had from the training material
4. Get the “green light” to begin hosting!
   1. Agree to be hosts
   2. Submit the Host Covenant Agreement
   3. Pass Background Checks (provided by Director of Operations; cost around $20 per adult) 
   4. Do the Child Safety Training (provided by Director of Operations)
   5. Receive relevant background information regarding the asylum seeker(s) you will host. This includes age, gender, country of origin, language(s), and religion.
   6. References will be called
5. Meet asylum seeker(s) on video call (when possible)
6. Arrange for asylum seeker(s) to move into your home!

Host Covenant Agreement (Expectations of a Host)

Please download and sign the Host Covenant Agreement by clicking below:

Download

Support Available During Hosting

While you are on your hosting journey, you are not alone! There are different types of support available to you at any time should the need arise and monthly check-ins to assess any other needs. Some of the support available to hosts includes the following:

Physical Support

• Beds and bedding if you do not already have extra (if in DFW and subject to availability)
• Food bank food or toiletries to supplement if needed (if in DFW and host can arrange transportation)

Relational Support for Hosts

• Monthly check-in (video or regular call) for the hosts from the Director of Social Services
• We also recommend tapping into your church community for additional relational support

Relational Support for Asylum Seekers

• Monthly check-in (video or regular call) for the asylum seeker with the Director of Social Services
• All asylum seekers are required to have an advocate. DASH provides the advocates for people in apartment living. Advocates for hosted residents are typically provided by the hosts. Generally, hosts recruit volunteers from their church community.

Relational Support for both Hosts and Asylum Seekers

• Attending all DASH meetings and functions (optional)
  • All-DASH Family Meetings (4th Sunday night of each month)
    • It is our hope that ALL residents of DASH attend these meetings, whether they are hosted or in the apartments, and we are working on providing virtual options to hosted residents to alleviate some of the burden on hosts to provide transportation, etc.
  • Additional fun gatherings (soccer nights, Bible studies, etc.)
  • Spring: International Worship Night
  • Summer: Asylum Seeker Culture Night
  • Fall: Stand With DASH (a free dessert reception to discuss current happenings with DASH and our annual fundraising event)
  • Winter: Thanksgiving Potluck
• A WhatsApp group text message chain with about 70 volunteers to announce prayer requests, needs, celebrations, etc.
• Host “Support Group”. Experienced Hosts available to listen, give tips, etc. (Available upon request).
• A leadership team who has done this many times before, who has your back, and who is just a phone call away at any time!

What is the expected duration of hosting? 

We have made temporary hosting placements when another situation was opening soon, or when we were unable to find a long-term housing solution, but we prefer not to do this as stability and security are very important for the emotional health of our residents.

In general, hosts are asked to consider a one to two-year commitment. On average, it can take asylum seekers more than 24 months from entering our program to receiving their work permit. But, based on the case and the current government policies, it could be shorter or longer by several months.

Deep Dive into DASH Network – 13 minute read

Services and Policies 

DASH Network Housing Guidelines 

Who can host who?

• A single, female asylum seeker may be hosted by
  • A single female 
  • Single, female roommates
  • A couple without children
  • A couple with children
  • A single mother with children
• A single mother with children 3 yrs or under may be hosted by
  • A single female 
  • Single, female roommates
  • A couple without children 
  • A couple with children also 3 yrs or under
• A single mother with children 4-13yrs may be hosted by
  • A couple without children
  • A single female
  • Single, female roommates 
• A single mother with children 14+ years may be hosted by
  • A couple without children
  • A single male may be hosted by
    • A single male 
    • Single, male roommates

Other Housing Accommodations:

Men’s Group Apartment:

• Single males are housed in a group apartment and sleep two to a bedroom, single beds.

Family Apartments:

• Families get their own apartment rented by DASH.
• Two families can share an apartment if the situation meets the hosting requirements above.

Family Alternatives

We can accept free options, such as a garage apartment or an apartment on a church property, etc. but transportation (is it on the bus route) and proximity to the rest of the community should be considered. 

Temporary Hosting

DASH tried not to use temporary hosting, as it is usually not a good experience for our residents to move so much, but sometimes it is the only alternative to homelessness. 

Who can temporarily host a family (which includes a husband and wife) while they are waiting for their apartment to be ready?

• A family can if both parties have children under the age of 4.
• A couple can, especially if the family being hosted has young children
• A single male can NOT
• A single female can NOT

Methodology

In response to the welcoming and compassionate love of Jesus, DASH Network exists to love asylum seekers by serving their physical and relational needs.

1. Why We Serve

We serve in response to the compassionate and welcoming love that Jesus extended to us when we ourselves were strangers.

Welcoming asylum seekers is a picture of the gospel, an overflow of what God has done for us. 

Welcoming strangers is a picture of the gospel message. Scripture teaches us that we were ourselves, foreigners and strangers, lost and in need of a place to rest and belong, with nothing to offer. Yet God the Father opened the door to us because of His great love and compassion for us. He welcomed us into His family and told us we belong, not because we did anything to earn His favor, but rather because of His abounding grace. If we have really been affected by this grace, then it will naturally overflow in our love and compassion toward others. 

Remember that you were at that time alienated from the commonwealth of Israel and strangers to the covenants of promise, having no hope and without God in the world. But now in Christ Jesus, you who once were far off have been brought near by the blood of Christ.… So then you are no longer strangers and aliens, but you are fellow citizens with the saints and members of the household of God.”  Ephesians 2:12,13,19 

God deeply loves and cares for alienated peoples and teaches us to do the same. 

Listen to God’s heart, to His mind: He calls His people to care for those in need time and again throughout Scripture. 

• “But if anyone has the world’s goods and sees his brother in need, yet closes his heart against him, how does God’s love abide in him?” 1 John 3:17

• “If a brother or sister is poorly clothed and lacking in daily food, and one of you says to them, “Go in peace, be warmed and filled,” without giving them the things needed for the body, what good is that? So also faith by itself, if it does not have works, is dead.” James 2:15-17

• “Is not this the fast that I choose… Is it not to share your bread with the hungry and bring the homeless poor into your house; when you see the naked, to cover him, and not to hide yourself from your own flesh?” Isaiah 58:6-7

• “You shall treat the stranger who sojourns with you as the native among you, and you shall love him as yourself, for you were strangers in the land of Egypt: I am the LORD your God.” Leviticus 19:34

• The Parable of the Good Samaritan:
  

  • And behold, a lawyer stood up to put him to the test, saying, “Teacher, what shall I do to inherit eternal life?” 26 He said to him, “What is written in the Law? How do you read it?” 27 And he answered, “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength and with all your mind, and your neighbor as yourself.” 28 And he said to him, “You have answered correctly; do this, and you will live.”

  • But he, desiring to justify himself, said to Jesus, “And who is my neighbor?” 30 Jesus replied, “A man was going down from Jerusalem to Jericho, and he fell among robbers, who stripped him and beat him and departed, leaving him half dead. 31 Now by chance a priest was going down that road, and when he saw him he passed by on the other side. 32 So likewise a Levite, when he came to the place and saw him, passed by on the other side. 33 But a Samaritan, as he journeyed, came to where he was, and when he saw him, he had compassion. 34 He went to him and bound up his wounds, pouring on oil and wine. Then he set him on his own animal and brought him to an inn and took care of him. 35 And the next day he took out two denarii and gave them to the innkeeper, saying, ‘Take care of him, and whatever more you spend, I will repay you when I come back.’ 36 Which of these three, do you think, proved to be a neighbor to the man who fell among the robbers?” He said, “The one who showed him mercy.” And Jesus said to him, “You go, and do likewise.” Luke 10:25-37

• The Final Judgment:
  

  •  “When the Son of Man comes in his glory, and all the angels with him, then he will sit on his glorious throne. 32 Before him will be gathered all the nations, and he will separate people one from another as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats. 33 And he will place the sheep on his right, but the goats on the left. 34 Then the King will say to those on his right, ‘Come, you who are blessed by my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world. 35 For I was hungry and you gave me food, I was thirsty and you gave me drink, I was a stranger and you welcomed me, 36 I was naked and you clothed me, I was sick and you visited me, I was in prison and you came to me.’ 37 Then the righteous will answer him, saying, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you drink? 38 And when did we see you a stranger and welcome you, or naked and clothe you? 39 And when did we see you sick or in prison and visit you?’ 40 And the King will answer them, ‘Truly, I say to you, as you did it to one of the least of these my brothers, you did it to me.’

  • “Then he will say to those on his left, ‘Depart from me, you cursed, into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels. 42 For I was hungry and you gave me no food, I was thirsty and you gave me no drink,43 I was a stranger and you did not welcome me, naked and you did not clothe me, sick and in prison and you did not visit me.’ 44 Then they also will answer, saying, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry or thirsty or a stranger or naked or sick or in prison, and did not minister to you?’ 45 Then he will answer them, saying, ‘Truly, I say to you, as you did not do it to one of the least of these, you did not do it to me.’ 46 And these will go away into eternal punishment, but the righteous into eternal life.” Matthew 25

Serving brings us joy, growth, and fullness of life.

• We have the opportunity to grow in the Lord. Not only do asylum seekers learn things from us, but we learn things from them and are truly blessed by their genuine friendship. Knowing people who have endured intense suffering and come from other cultures can provide a deep and valuable perspective on life. God can use our relationships with asylum seekers to cleanse selfishness out of our lives and foster a spirit of thankfulness and compassion. With each interaction, you are reminded that not everyone has a place to call home, the right to work, enough food, family, or even basic security. These are not rights granted to all people worldwide; everything is a gift from God! When we open our hearts and homes to those in need, when we learn to obey and follow God living for Him, when we intentionally lay down our own lives for the lives of our friends, we grow. Our faith, thankfulness, sanctification, and dependence on God are all enriched by this degree of intentionality in our lifestyle. Through the lifelong process of learning to abide in Christ, we continually find abundant life, fullness of joy, and treasure forevermore.
• We get to find and do what we were made for. Humans were created to glorify God and enjoy Him forever. As we participate in God’s Kingdom work, restoring what sin destroyed in our world, we fulfill our created purpose. We were each “created in Christ Jesus to do the good works prepared for [us] before the foundation of the world,” and we were each endowed with specific gifts, such as encouragement, mercy, hospitality, etc. Using these gifts in service to God and others yields a great sense of fulfillment and joy! 

2. What We Do  

We exist to love and welcome asylum seekers as friends and family.

Look at how Jesus served people: When He walked the Earth, Jesus did not create certain “mission days” or “service projects.” Instead, Jesus made the religious leaders of his day uncomfortable by welcoming the outsiders, befriending them, and sharing meals with them in homes. It is often much more comfortable to help the poor and the outcast from a position of superiority, but Jesus was actually friends with these people! He welcomed them as family, developing personal, intimate relationships with them. Eating and drinking together is a sign of welcome, association, commitment, and belonging. This was His strategy to reflect God’s love. He welcomed the unwelcomed into His community and shared his life with them. If we are supposed to imitate Jesus, we should do the same, welcoming people into our family and into the Family of God. 

In DASH, we choose not to call the asylum seekers we serve clients, cases, or beneficiaries. We call them brothers, sisters, and friends. Healthy families rejoice together, mourn together, and grow together; in DASH, we hope to see this sense of family develop between staff, volunteers, and residents alike.

Healthy families also meet each other’s needs. Just as a baby is unable to feed himself and is sustained by the milk of his mother, Acts 2 gives us a picture of the Family of Christ coming together to meet needs that individuals are unable to meet for themselves. In America, asylum seekers do not have the right to work and are not given access to social services. Without assistance, asylum seekers are often subjected to homelessness and even starvation. DASH Network exists to fill this gap–meeting the physical and relational needs of the asylum seekers in our community who are legally unable to provide for themselves. 

In keeping with the model of the early Church, it is important for us to serve from a place of unity and humility rather than from a place of superiority or power. Paul reminds us in 1 Corinthians 12 that we are all members of one Body–equally necessary to the healthy functioning of the whole. Thus, any service we provide to another part of the body is done with this sense of unity, wholeness, and humility in mind. On the other hand, serving from a god-complex mentality occurs when one is inflated with feelings of personal ability, privilege, or infallibility; a person with a god-complex may feel that they have the ability and responsibility to be the savior or hero of another, often believing that they know better than the person they are serving. 

Preventing a god-complex mentality and embracing a Biblical approach to serving others begins with the message of the cross of Christ: “I am not okay, and you are not okay. Only Jesus can rescue us both.” The ground is level at the foot of the cross–every person has value and dignity because they were made in the image of God. Likewise, every person is a sinner, deserving of nothing good. In fact, everything we have is an undeserved gift from God. Some people have money to give, some have time, some wisdom. In our serving, we aim to help asylum seekers see that they too have dignity and unique giftings from God to offer the world. 

In DASH, we are about people, transformation, and relationships–not projects, check-lists, and products–so our work can only be accomplished through a highly relational ministry. We should not do things to or for other people, but with them. We must involve those we serve every step of the way. For example, rather than starting a soup kitchen, we shop for groceries with asylum seekers or invite them to volunteer alongside Americans when food from the food bank is picked up. 

3. How we do it

We serve both their physical and relational needs.

• Physical needs

We meet the physical needs of housing, food, and toiletries for asylum seekers.

• We do not meet physical needs just to give us an opportunity to evangelize as some ministries do; Scripture teaches us that there is intrinsic value in meeting physical needs. Reading the verses listed above is evidence of this! Meeting physical needs is a worthy end in itself. Through these acts, we obey and glorify God and show love to our neighbors. 
• Before providing physical needs, it is important to understand what the unmet needs are for the particular group we are serving. Physical relief is critical for asylum seekers because they are not legally allowed to work and cannot return to their home country for fear of death. While many cities across the United States have created grassroots organizations to meet the basic physical needs of asylum seekers, Dallas/Fort Worth (DFW) had no organizations that offered housing for asylum seekers, prior to the launch of DASH. We continue to be the only organization in DFW that provides housing for these people, even though estimates suggest there are more than 20,000 asylum seekers in Dallas alone. Furthermore, many homeless shelters and food banks will not accept asylum seekers because they do not have a government issued ID or social security card. 

• Relational needs

“Poverty is the result of relationships that do not work, that are not just, that are not for life, that are not harmonious or enjoyable. Poverty is the absence of shalom in all its meanings.”  (Steve Corbett and Brian Fikkert, When Helping Hurts)

Steve Corbett and Brian Fikkert helpfully describe two opposing views of poverty in their book, When Helping Hurts. The first is the perspective of someone who has never experienced poverty: poverty is the absence of needed things. The second is the perspective of someone who is living in poverty: poverty is shame, worthlessness, a lack of dignity, a lack of personhood. This last sense of poverty conveys the total brokenness that stems from entrapment in poverty. The Bible shows us that the answer to this true poverty, this brokenness and felt loss of dignity, is restoring right relationships in all things. When Helping Hurts breaks this down into four categories: God, self, others, and creation.

• Restoring a Right Relationship with God
• A right relationship to God comes only through knowing, loving, and following Jesus Christ. “Salvation is found in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given to mankind by which we must be saved.” Acts 4:12. Having a right relationship to God, through salvation and then through the ongoing process of sanctification, is the foundation of our ability to glorify God and fulfill our life’s purpose. Even a person who seems to have it all but does not know or live in a state where the redemptive power of Christ affects their daily life lives in a state of spiritual poverty. So, to truly love those we serve, we must not shy away from pointing them to Christ. “Godliness with contentment is great gain.” 1 Timothy 6:6 

• Restoring a Right Relationship with Oneself
  • A right relationship to oneself necessitates finding the median between pride and self-deprecation. Either of these extremes can wreak havoc on many parts of one’s life. We must call people to see themselves as God sees them: very small and powerless in comparison to the hugeness and sovereignty of God, yet very precious and loved, bearing intrinsic value, unique gifts, and God’s own image.
  • Restoring a Right Relationship with Others 
  • Mankind was not meant to go through life alone. Those without a  right relationship to others, without the love and inclusion of a family, or without strong community suffer a poverty of the soul that prevents them from becoming all that they were made to be. 
  • Restoring a Right Relationship with the Rest of Creation
  • There is a poverty of circumstances that includes events that are often outside of our control, like the injustices inflicted on asylum seekers overseas or their inability to obtain work permits. God calls us to work to make the rest of creation perfect, like Eden. This work will be accomplished in full when Jesus returns in glory.
• Why did Jesus come? He did not come merely to die and save us from our sins; He also came to reconcile himself to all things and usher in the Kingdom of God, restoring all things under his authority to health, beauty, and freedom (When Helping Hurts). We are not the reconciler or restorer of the world: Jesus is. However, we are his ambassadors, so we must learn to do his work.
• Meeting just physical needs (or providing relief) is easier than meeting relational needs. It is much simpler and more attractive to say we fed a thousand people today than to say we hung out with and developed relationships with a dozen. Restoring relationships demands intense and individual ministry over a long period of time. Jesus designed the Church to cultivate disciples from broken people through long-term discipleship. 

Asylum Seeker Covenant Agreement

We ask every asylum seeker who joins our housing network to agree to our Asylum Seeker Covenant. You can download and view this document by clicking below:

Download

Understanding Asylum Seekers – 14 minute read

Intro into Biblical Counseling

Please download and read this DASH Intro to Biblical Counseling manual.

Download

Common Characteristics & Experiences of Asylum Seekers

Motivated and Accustomed to Work: The majority of our residents held professional level jobs in their counties, often working as politicians, engineers, IT techs, teachers, journalists, doctors, non-profit or community leaders, etc. They have the expectation and desire to continue working for a living in America. Though a mental hurdle can occasionally arise when they discover that their skill sets are not always transferable to the same career path here, the vast majority have been so frustrated by the long months or years of waiting for a work permit. By the time they are finally allowed to work, they are extremely motivated to seek employment and ready to take whatever work they can find. 

Education: The majority of our residents already have a university-level education from their country. Additionally, the majority of the people in our program have plans to continue their education here in the U.S. as soon as their financial situation will allow it. Many see American higher education as the key to their success here. For many asylum seekers, this becomes a reality within only a year or two of receiving their work permit. For others, the reality that this may not be an attainable short-term goal can create disappointment. 

Grit: Most asylum seekers possess an amazing strength and ability to “make it happen.” All asylum seekers had the resourcefulness to escape the hands of those persecuting them and land on American soil–this is often an amazing feat in itself. 

English as a Second Language (or Seventh!): Language is one of the biggest factors that hold back asylum seekers from building community in the United States. However, as a whole, asylum seekers tend to know much more English than refugees upon arrival and are eager to learn more. DASH helps connect our residents with as many ESL opportunities as possible to speed up this process.

Cultural Barriers: Nearly everyone who moves to a country with an entirely new culture experiences culture shock and has to relearn how day-to-day life happens. Driving a car, work expectations, and environments, and social norms are often completely different in America compared to an asylum seeker’s home country. Cultural barriers can act as yet another roadblock, preventing asylum seekers from continuing their vocational trades in America.  

Loneliness: Asylum seekers usually flee their home and country alone, leaving behind even their immediate family. It is not uncommon for asylum seekers to cry daily, longing to see their children or spouses once more. Many arrive in America not knowing anyone; others arrive with a distant relation to one or two people. Their cultural and linguistic barriers, coupled with their emotional distress, exacerbate feelings of loneliness and delay the process of making new friendships and integrating into new communities.

Emotional distress: PTSD, depression, anxiety, nightmares, flashbacks, depression, anger, suicidal thoughts, isolation, fear, and grief are common among asylum seekers. They often arrive in the U.S. within weeks or months of traumatic persecution such as having family members murdered, having their house burned, being beaten, tortured or abused in prison, or being raped. Furthermore, the journey to America can have traumatic events of its own–many of our residents have experienced food deprivation, extortion, and rape on the journey toward the United States.

Even entering the United States can create some emotional trauma: Most asylum seekers who enter our country are shocked to learn that America offers no social service assistance and no work permit to them upon arrival. Often, they have had to leave behind all of their material assets and their bank accounts may have been frozen at home. They are wholly unprepared for the situation they find themselves in and survival mode often sets in as they struggle to figure out how to survive. 

After being accepted into DASH Network and having their basic needs met, many asylum seekers finally have the space they need to process, grieve, or begin to feel the effects of the trauma they’ve experienced. Even during this time, many continue to feel that they cannot relax because they carry the constant burden of not knowing, for months or years, whether their case will be accepted or whether they will be deported, which many view as a death sentence. 

However, it seems that most asylum seekers cope with their trauma extremely well. Of the more than two hundred residents DASH has served, only a very small handful have had their mental healing impair their ability to succeed in employment after obtaining a work permit. Often the biggest way an asylum seeker’s trauma affects him or her is in his or her ability to make meaningful friendships; their past trauma and current emotional state keeps them from feeling like others could understand them, know them, or connect with them. This often causes asylum seekers to feel like outsiders in a way that is much deeper than culture or language. 

Highly Reduced Social and Economic Standings:  Most asylum seekers come from wealthy or upper-middle-class backgrounds; their families and positions were respected and well-known in their communities. Many owned multiple vehicles or dwellings, which were often confiscated by the government, destroyed, or hastily sold to purchase plane tickets. Upon their arrival in the United States, asylum seekers suddenly find themselves very poor compared to those around them, usually for the first time in their lives, and must struggle mentally and emotionally through the loss of their former status. Moreover, since asylum seekers are forced by law to be temporarily dependent on others (as they cannot have work permits for a lengthy period of time), they must also struggle through the dignity crushing act of asking for and receiving help from others for life’s basic needs. 

Those working to alleviate poverty must be extremely careful not to create dependency by providing basic needs or financial resources without addressing the mental, cultural, or other reasons why the impoverished are unable to work and provide for themselves. This inability for asylum seekers is created by law. The overwhelming majority of asylum seekers in DFW–those who have graduated from DASH and others living in our community–quickly obtain employment, pay their own bills, and ultimately become financially independent within only a few months of receiving their work permits.   

Safety Training

As a protection for DASH Network, host families, and asylum seekers placed in host homes, we require that all adults residing in host homes:

• Pass a background check
• Complete the Child Safety Training (Sexual Abuse Prevention) through Protect My Ministry, a third party vendor. 
  • The information for this training will be sent to you directly by the Director of Operations once you are approved for hosting. 

The cost for this training is currently ~$20 per adult.

All asylum seekers paired with host families have been interviewed by a lawyer to confirm the legitimacy of their asylum case.