Guest 17: Melissa Dalton-Bradford

Jessica spoke to the incomparable Melissa Dalton-Bradford in this episode. Melissa resides with her husband Randall near Frankfurt, Germany, where she and her family arrived on the eve of a turning point in world history, when hundreds of thousands of people displaced by war, terrorism, and mortal peril trekked westward, seeking safety. A global nomad of 30 years, an author, (Global Mom: A Memoir; On Loss & Living Onward; essays and poetry in several anthologies), and an intercultural integration consultant, Melissa immediately volunteered teaching refugees German in an emergency shelter set up in her local high school gym. Those people and their stories rerouted her life. Within months, she’d helped found, with a handful of creative friends, Their Story is Our Story, a rapidly-growing nonprofit dedicated to gathering and sharing first-hand refugee stories in an effort to reveal the individual behind the ‘refugee’ label, cultivate meaningful relationships with those seeking refuge locally, and build strong and inclusive communities worldwide. With the global humanitarian crisis on the rise, Melissa volunteers full time leading TSOS as its Executive Director. She is the wife of Randall, and mother of four adult children. The following articles are mentioned in this episode... 1 https://www.nytimes.com/2019/11/07/opinion/trump-immigration.html?smid=nytcore-ios-share and 2 https://www.opendemocracy.net/en/refugee-stories-could-do-more-harm-good/?fbclid=IwAR06DY1hUajpW71IausTAzO7Cy0HK2fSGNHqorqnLgdw9l2f_5PVen8qHMU