Contributors

Jenna Perego

Community Liaison, Italy

Jenna loves to journal. She grew up in Missouri and moved to Italy with her husband and five kids in 2012 and returned ten years later to Missouri in 2021. Jenna believes everyone has a story. Shortly after arriving in Italy, Jenna made a dear friend in her church congregation who had just arrived with her baby and husband on a heroic and horrific voyage by sea from Libya. This friend’s story changed Jenna’s perspective on her own challenges and opened her eyes to the stories of refugees in her community. She helped TSOS collect stories in Rome in 2017, then volunteered with MEDU and now with LDS Charity’s Friendship Centre.

Elsewhere

Is She Still a Refugee?

What would you do if you had to leave everything behind?

By the end of 2025, more than 117.8 million people worldwide had been forcibly displaced by war, persecution, or human rights abuses — and 45 million of them are children.

They arrive in refugee camps and countries seeking safety and carrying little: legal papers, if they're lucky. A backpack. A child's hand in theirs.

What they carry that we can't see is heavier: fractured families, homes they'll never return to, professions they loved, friends and relatives they may never see again.

In a climate where immigrant stories are often ignored or twisted, we believe stories are a form of justice. When someone shares what they survived, they reclaim their voice. When we amplify it through film, photography, and advocacy, the world listens. Hearts soften. Policy begins to shift.

Because when a lawmaker sees a person instead of a statistic, and a neighbor understands instead of fears, rebuilding becomes possible.

Your support helps us share these stories where they matter most.

— Kristen Smith Dayley, Executive Director, Their Story is Our Story

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