To sustain our exiled writer sanctuary program, we have received a $35,000 challenge grant from two long-time donor couples

Dear Friends of City of Asylum,

I never expected to be writing you again as Executive Director of City of Asylum. Diane and I thought we had found the ideal successor in Andrés Franco—someone who felt City of Asylum was his life’s calling, as it was ours. So it was a great disappointment when—after two years and much soul-searching—he resigned.

I am only filling in short-term, until the Board identifies Andrés’ successor. However, my commitment to our values and mission are not short-term.

The attack on Salman Rushdie at Chautauqua brought home to me, in the most personal and enduring way possible, the need for City of Asylum…and the urgency of our mission.

If Salman Rushdie was not safe here, what must it be like for writers in Iran, in Cuba, China, Turkey, Algeria, Bangladesh, Sudan, and so many other places?

I knew that death and imprisonment were dangers faced every day by writers in City of Asylum, before they found safety in Pittsburgh. The stories they told me were terrifying.

But after Chautauqua, I understood their stories differently…and the importance of our mission. Dangers that seemed abstract on August 11 become real on August 12.

What we do in Pittsburgh to protect writers is truly a matter of life or death. Our support of their long-term security and sustainability in exile is life-changing: We are different from all of the other 80 cities in the International Cities of Refuge Network. They provide temporary, emergency safety. In Pittsburgh we focus on long-term outcomes. When writers exit City of Asylum, they are stable, self-supporting, and able to continue writing.

City of Asylum is also the largest exiled writer sanctuary in the Network. Soon there will be 6 different writers and families living on Sampsonia Way. Almost 10% of the exiled writers in the entire 80-city International Cities of Refuge Network are in Pittsburgh.

Pittsburgh’s success comes from the community that has grown around our mission— we are a grassroots organization of friends, neighbors, professionals, online viewers, and writers, each of us engaging with the exiled writers and their families in our own way. And, of course, all this has been possible because we have also received the necessary financial support from many as well.

We are now launching our annual campaign to support of our writer sanctuary program. Throughout this month, we will be updating you on the campaign and the writers that Pittsburgh now supports—Anouar Rahmani, Rania Mamoun, Jorge Olivera Castillo, Olena Boryshpolets, Oleksandr Frazé-Frazénko, and another soon to arrive.

In 2021, we were able for the first time to secure significant foundation funding for our writer sanctuary program and it has continued. But even with this foundation funding we will need almost $100,000 of public support.

Two couples have pledged a total of $35,000 to this campaign as a challenge: If we can raise $65,000 by June 15….they will donate $35,000….and we will meet our $100,000 goal. Meeting this goal is also leveraged and multiplied with foundations, who cite our community support as important to their decision-making.

With more appreciation than ever….for what our mission means and what we have been able to accomplish together….I ask your help.

It truly makes a difference. Thank you.

Sincerely,

Henry Reese
Co-Founder