Leaving Homs, finding home (2 of 6)

Nader and his family are originally from Homs, Syria. Nader had a lingerie business in Homs since 1995; he owned a factory that employed over 150 people. In 2011, the factory was destroyed, when fighting began between government and opposition forces.In 2012, Nader, his wife Rasha and their three kids, ages 4, 8 and 10 at the time, fled to Egypt. Nader already had a small business there making wedding dresses. They had no intention of coming to the US, until a series of tragic events made it imperative. Nader suffered a heart attack and underwent bypass surgery in 2015; he also had problems with his business partner. They decided to apply for refugee status through UNHCR; after an almost two year process of security checks and interviews by several agencies, they were approved to travel to the US. They arrived in Washington DC a few days before President Trump signed the first Executive Order banning Syrian refugees.(2 of 6)Photo: George Kolotov Mozaic, a nonprofit based in Virginia and run completely by volunteers, is supporting Nader's dressmaking and tailoring efforts. Please learn more about their work to help refugees and support their efforts on their website: http://www.mozaicinc.org