Lutheran Services in Iowa Executive Director Renee Hardman remembered the call she made in January as news of President Donald Trump's stop-work order unfolded. Over the phone, she and her colleague, Nick Wuertz, who leads the organization's services for refugees and immigrants, parsed through the president's order, which demanded resettlement agencies stop serving new arrivals. That meant the organization could no longer provide clients — including the 191 people they had just received — with finding housing, work, health care and school for their children. A promise came out of that conversation, Hardman said to a small crowd Tuesday, Aug. 12, at an event celebrating the successful resettlement of those 191 refugees and immigrants. "(Wuertz) and I were both worried, but he and I both knew that we were not going to abandon these newcomers," Hardman said as she thanked donors and community partners in attendance for their continued support and advocacy. Tap the link in our bio for ...