Before hosting more than 100 refugee students in the University of Pittsburgh’s Posvar Hall, a room of 29 camp counselors try to get acquainted. They have been instructed to say their names while doing some kind of movement. Once a person is finished, everyone else has to repeat the name and signature move. There are jazz hands, twirls, jumps and lots and lots of laughs.
The lighthearted exercise is preparation for PRYSE Academy, a five-week summer camp for local young refugees offered by the nonprofit ARYSE. It’s also one of the region’s latest programs to join a growing list of those stripped of federal funding.
Earlier this year, key grants for two of ARYSE’s programs, including PRYSE Academy, were discontinued indefinitely by the federal Office of Refugee Resettlement effective Oct. 1. A quarter of ARYSE’s $1.1 million budget comes from the government.
The cuts resulted in a loss of $356,000 in federal funding, including $231,000 for PRYSE Academy — about half of the summer camp’s annual budget.
“It feels like [the work is] very intentionally being targeted and deprioritized.”Jenna baron
Refugee service providers and advocates say the suspension of financial support is part of President Donald Trump’s strategy to reshape refugee entry and resettlement.
“The stress is very real,” said Executive Director Jenna Baron as she works to fill the organization’s funding gap. Yet she remains hopeful “because of the way that people have shown up over time for ARYSE.”
“It’s very rewarding to see a movement be built of people who understand why specializing in supporting youth is really so critical, and I have to have hope, and I do have hope that this is going to come through for us in the short term.”
Long-term may prove to be a different story, though. Baron said there is “so much uncertainty” around what federal support for refugee-serving organizations will look like going forward.
From helped to helper
Offered since 2013, PRYSE (Pittsburgh Refugee Youth Summer Enrichment) is part of ARYSE’s year-round programming for young refugees and immigrants in Allegheny County. Baron said the academy’s purpose is threefold: developing students’ English literacy skills, developing their confidence and fostering a sense of belonging.
Around 700 students have gone through PRYSE Academy since its inception, and Baron is determined to continue growing that number.
“By the end of the program … we hear their voices in a much bigger way,” she said.
PRYSE Academy evolved from a group of Pitt students — Baron among them — who began tutoring refugee students in 2013. ARYSE was established following the camp’s success, and more programs later developed. Today, the summer camp remains the organization’s largest program, and Baron said it’s also often kids’ first interaction with ARYSE.
Students in grades 6-12 are typically referred to the organization by school districts or local resettlement agencies like Jewish Family and Community Services (JFCS).
The latter is how 18-year-old Nateso came in contact with the organization.
(Public Source is identifying refugees by first name only due to privacy and safety concerns.)
Nateso, who is Congolese, moved to the U.S. from Burundi a month before the COVID-19 shutdown. The social isolation, in addition to not knowing much English, made for a difficult adjustment, he said.
“Me meeting with ARYSE, it kind of gave me the comfort that there was somebody out there who cared about my well-being,” he said. “I couldn’t believe it.”
What other counselors had to say about ARYSE
Esther
Esther, 16, is from the Democratic Republic of Congo and has been involved with ARYSE since she moved to the U.S. in 2022. When she attended camp for the first time, she thought to herself, “Why is this going so fast? I just want to stay there all day.” The youngest of nine, Esther likes being a leader and says she’s good at giving advice, which is why she’s excited to be a junior counselor this summer. She says the experience at PRYSE Academy is so enjoyable because, “even though people are coming from different cultures, at this summer camp … they’re all loving each other [and] choosing each other equally.”
Reol
Reol, 20, is from the Central African Republic and moved to the U.S. in 2023. He credits ARYSE with helping him improve his English and lessen his fear of expressing himself. He found it helpful to be in the company of people in the same position, and who wouldn’t judge him if he made a mistake while speaking. He said he hopes to “lead by example” this summer, showing that a language barrier is “not a problem.”
“You can be able to do anything you desire by speaking multiple languages,” he said.
He’s getting ready to attend Pitt in the fall and study cybersecurity, but his real career goal? Continuing to work at the nonprofit.
Fahima
Fahima, 19, is from Afghanistan and moved to the U.S. in 2022. She says many of her friendships originated from her time with ARYSE. Like others Public Source spoke to, she experienced a surge in confidence after attending the organization’s English language development lessons and activities that facilitated strong bonds between participants. She’ll be working as a junior counselor this summer, explaining that she was largely motivated to return because she likes teaching, but also joked with the reporter about her other reasons: “Well, we all know one of them is money.”
Nateso has gone from participant to counselor at PRYSE Academy. He said this summer will let him see a “mirror image” of his younger self, reinforcing his growth over the last six years. He suspects this will be his last time at the camp before he enrolls in college.
Working as a counselor will also allow him to make good on a promise: “One thing I always tell myself is: ‘When I came here, I got the help I needed, and in the future, I’m going to be the one helping others.’”
When Baron informed him and the other counselors about program funding cuts, reactions were a mix of shock and concern. Nateso said knowing there’s even a slight chance that a person who needs help may not receive it feels horrible.
He asked himself, “Why would somebody do that?”
Funding slashed, admissions paused
The funding cuts affecting ARYSE come amid a broader effort by the Trump administration to restrict refugee entry and scale back support for refugee-serving organizations. On the day he was inaugurated, Trump issued an executive order pausing refugee admissions, saying the country lacked “the ability to absorb large numbers of migrants, and in particular, refugees” without compromising resources and safety.
He then set a record-low refugee admissions cap for fiscal year 2026, opening 7,500 slots, compared with 125,000 in 2024. Government agencies were told to prioritize white Afrikaners from South Africa, and in May, Trump added 10,000 more spots for Afrikaners.
“Almost all pathways to humanitarian entrance into the country have been shuttered,” said Danilo Zak, director of policy at Church World Service, which is one of the federal government’s resettlement agency partners.
Zak said Congress has maintained some funding for essential and supplementary refugee services, but the grants ARYSE relied on could still be discontinued because they were not specifically named in appropriation bills.
The money exists to be handed out, he said. “It’s a choice by the administration to stop these programs.”
The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, which houses the Office of Refugee Resettlement, did not respond to a request for comment by Public Source.
“Why would somebody do that?”Nateso
Baron, who recently met Zak during an advocacy day in Washington, D.C., said ARYSE’s funding cuts are only one example of “how refugee communities and the organizations who historically support them” are being dismantled.
“It feels like [the work is] very intentionally being targeted and deprioritized,” she said.
Zak agrees and believes the discontinued grants should be viewed alongside other federal moves affecting refugees and immigrants.
When discussing funding challenges, he said, “it needs to come hand in hand with the decision to reduce refugee cash and medical assistance, and the decision to strip refugees of eligibility for SNAP and Medicaid and the decision to target these individuals for deportation.”
Turning to other funders
Baron doesn’t want anyone to worry about the cuts, least of all students and their families. She’s adamant that both PRYSE Academy and the organization’s After School Club, which also relies on federal funding, will continue.
So far, her search for alternative funding hasn’t brought answers. At the state level, Baron said no one has been able to confirm if there are other pots of funding to pull from.
Without a state budget in place for the fiscal year, which began July 1, it’s difficult to know how money will be allocated. For the fifth year in a row, state representatives have missed the June 30 deadline for passing a budget.
Asked if there were any plans to fund organizations that lost federal grants for refugee programs, the Pennsylvania Department of Human Services and Department of Education jointly issued Public Source a statement.
“The end of these grants amount to a loss of approximately $768 million annually in federal funding to Pennsylvania’s domestic refugee resettlement infrastructure. Any cuts to federal funding are an explicit decision by the federal government to shift these costs onto states. These are costs Pennsylvania cannot backfill,” the statement read.
A group of camp counselors for the Pittsburgh Refugee Youth Summer Enrichment Academy play a game to get to know each other better and learn one another’s names on June 25, at the University of Pittsburgh’s Posvar Hall in Oakland. (Photo by Claira Tokarz/Pittsburgh’s Public Source) 
Reol, a camp counselor for PRYSE Academy, participates in a group exercise on June 25, at Posvar Hall. (Photo by Claira Tokarz/Pittsburgh’s Public Source) 
Parag S. Gohel, the PRYSE Academy program manager, leads a group exercise for camp counselors on June 25, at Posvar Hall. (Photo by Claira Tokarz/Pittsburgh’s Public Source) 
Leah Dresse, a co-director for PRYSE Academy, participates in a group exercise on June 25, at Posvar Hall. (Photo by Claira Tokarz/Pittsburgh’s Public Source) 
Two soon-to-be counselors for PRYSE Academy dance on a break between games and lectures on June 25, at Posvar Hall. (Photo by Claira Tokarz/Pittsburgh’s Public Source)
For now, Baron’s plans hinge on garnering more individual donors, securing new foundation grants and pursuing corporate funders — “the typical kind of nonprofit diversification strategy.”
Over the next month, PRYSE Academy participants at Pitt will learn from artists, engage in community-building exercises and strengthen their English language skills. They will make friends and get to experience a neighborhood that Baron calls “the best that this city has to offer.”
“When I think about what we want our students to have access to, and fostering a true sense of belonging in Pittsburgh, it’s important to me that they see Oakland and the University of Pittsburgh as a place for them.”
The camp will end Aug. 8 with a student showcase, where the public is invited to see what students created and learned over the summer. Baron said she hopes that same welcoming spirit is restored at the federal level.
“I hope for a future where we have leadership that goes back to understanding the historical significance and the current urgency of a program like the U.S. Refugee Resettlement Program,” she said. “To not just our economic thriving, but of course, the interpersonal thriving of our communities, and even national security.”
Maddy Franklin reports on higher ed for Pittsburgh’s Public Source, in partnership with Open Campus, and can be reached at madison@publicsource.org.
This story was fact-checked by Jamie Wiggan.
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