The Path Ahead for Anar and Healing to Hope

Solidarity on the Path Ahead

Dear Anar & Healing to Hope Community,

We have much to share in the earliest months of 2026. But first we are deeply moved to report that, thanks to your vision and belief in our work, we exceeded our fundraising goal for 2025, which enabled us to provide 30% more support to Palestinian children and caregivers in January than we projected!

We are humbled and grateful. Without you, we would not be here today. Healing to Hope received our 501(c)(3) nonprofit status in the summer of 2025, and, even in our first half-year as a US-based nonprofit, you have gone above and beyond to help us create a base of concrete support for Anar’s Palestinian-led work on the ground as we enter 2026. You have buoyed us in the face of real and urgent challenges. There is dire need in the West Bank right now, especially as we see more and more illegal settlements, settler violence, and de facto annexation endorsed by the Israeli security cabinet.

But in the face of this injustice, Anar truly is a light, and it is an honor to walk together as sister organizations. Already in January and February, Anar has been busy supporting more and more children, youth, caregivers, and communities in Palestine, as you’ll see in the images and insights that follow. Because of the volume of need throughout the West Bank, additional staff have joined the Anar team to support communities in Tulkarem and Bethlehem, as well as in a new site in Tubas.

And in the summer of 2026, Anar plans to pilot its first remote support programs in Gaza, expanding the facilitator program to train around 60 new community leaders who will create their own psychosocial accompaniment teams, which will, in turn, aim to support 3,000-5,000 Gazan children. “Accompaniment” is a term we are turning to more often, as Anar’s psychosocial work is done in authentic collaboration with community members, learning from their wisdom and experience, walking alongside them, while also providing concrete tools for increasing well-being and resilience in the face of ongoing trauma.

Some of you may not realize that Healing to Hope, Anar’s sister organization, is based in Minneapolis. Here in the Twin Cities, we witness ICE’s horrific operations and remember that our brothers and sisters in Palestine have been living under occupation, apartheid, and military violence for generations. We look to their movement for freedom and justice as an inspiration for us all, as we know that, in the words of Dr. King, Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere.

At Anar and Healing to Hope, we’re reflecting on our interconnected struggles—and the tremendous beauty and strength of community response. We’d love to invite you into our conversation with two upcoming webinars. The first is this Thursday, February 26, hosted by our friends at ELCA Sumud and featuring Anar ED Rami Khader and ELCA Bishop Jen Nagel. The second is a joint conversation on March 19 between Anar and Healing to Hope about what solidarity really means locally and globally at this moment. Read on for more details.

As always, we are deeply thankful for your support of Palestinian children and caregivers and your belief in the power of community-based psychosocial support and artistic healing that moves us towards hope—hope rooted in the larger movement for justice and freedom in Palestine.

In solidarity,

Sarah Myers, Healing to Hope ED

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Upcoming Webinars

Faith and Occupation: From Bethlehem to Minneapolis

On Thursday, February 26 at 11:00am CST, ELCA Sumud will be hosting a conversation between Anar Executive Director Rami Khader and ELCA Bishop Jen Nagel of the Minneapolis Area Synod exploring the realities of detention and imprisonment from Minneapolis to Palestine.

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Solidarity in the Face of Injustice: Anar & Healing to Hope in Conversation

Thursday, March 19th at 12:00pm CDT / 7:00pm Palestine

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Join us for a conversation between sister organizations Anar and Healing to Hope, as we explore the meaning of solidarity in the struggle against injustice, occupation, and violence in Palestine and the U.S. From Bethlehem, Minneapolis, and Chicago, we will discuss community accompaniment, global and local solidarity, and centering the experiences of children and caregivers. As we learn from each other, we will look to Anar’s model for addressing long-term trauma and sustaining well-being in the face of injustice.

Highlights from Anar’s Recent Work

A new community-based psychosocial support accompaniment team in the Bethlehem governorate includes 12 local artists participating in a capacity-building training on using the arts in psychosocial support. This month, the group prepared for launching a series of creative expression sessions supervised by Anar.

Also in February, Anar's team visited a new village in Hebron, kicking off a collaboration with Zohour Al-Mustaqbal Kindergarten and psychosocial support sessions with 30 children. The sessions included interactive and artistic activities that helped children learn how to recognize and express their emotions, and a joint session brought mothers and children together to strengthen their relationships and foster feelings of safety and support.

The beginning of 2026 is a busy time for Anar’s Shababeek program, now in its third cycle, with the launch of the latest group. This year's participants consist of 15 youth aged 18-28 from Bethlehem Governorate who will take part in training sessions throughout the year to discuss various topics related to mental health and psychosocial support.

Shababeek, which means windows in Arabic, provides comprehensive training for youth to develop as leaders and play proactive roles in their communities. The program’s year-long curriculum includes leadership and life skills, community development, and psychosocial support, and it encourages young leaders to support other children and youth in their communities through youth-led initiatives and campaigns supervised by Anar's team.

In conjunction with the third cycle of Shababeek in Bethlehem, a new group was launched in Ramallah in February in partnership with the Evangelical Lutheran Church of Hope Ramallah. This first group includes 12 youth who will receive training throughout the year, increasing the reach and impact of young leaders supporting their own communities.

Anar took its tour performances of Shams Al-Shamousa (The Shining Sun) to Balata and Askar Refugee Camps in Nablus for the first time this month. The play targets children aged 5–8 and introduces them to the importance of identifying and expressing different types of emotions in an interactive atmosphere full of energy and joy.

Anar continued its performances of Shams Al-Shamousa with two shows in the Salfit Governorate, one at Al-Qira Mixed School and the other in the city of Salfit. Performances were organized by Anar’s Expressive Arts Unit in coordination with Al-Qira Sports Club.

In the Askar Refugee Camp in January, children created personal artwork in response to the prompt, Who Am I? , as they shared traits that defined them, including hobbies, interests, and points of creativity and strength. Anar’s psychosocial support sessions with children are designed to create a space where every child feels comfortable expressing themselves in their own way, with freedom and confidence and without judgment. This activity is part of Anar’s ongoing work to enhance children’s mental well-being and foster a sense of safety and empowerment.

The first psychosocial support group meeting with ten mothers from Deir Al-Asal Al-Tahta village was held in January in cooperation with the Deir Al-Asal Village Council. This meeting focused on listening to and understanding the mothers’ specific psychological and social needs given the challenges in the area and providing a safe space for dialogue and participation. Anar’s focus on supporting mothers is a crucial piece of strengthening the resilience of families and communities.

As the new Shababeek cycle began, January also marked the graduation of the 2025 Shababeek cohort. Over the course of last year, with a total of 45 hours, the group engaged in intensive training on the principles of mental health and psychosocial support, while experiencing their own deeply personal journeys of self-growth and development.

The 2025 cohort also got involved in their own communities in a range of ways, from crochet sessions and child–mother paired sessions to psychosocial theatre performances and emotional-release circles with Girl Scout groups. The team even carried out multiple community initiatives focused on creating safe spaces for children and adolescents and promoting men’s mental health. And they concluded the year with the distribution of food to families in the community.

In January, Anar hosted partners from the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) in Bethlehem. Here, Rami Khader talks with the delegation, including Rev. Jihyun Oh, Dr. Dianna Wright, Sue Rheem, Elder Douglas Dicks, Luciano Kovacs, Mike Ferguson, and Rich Copley.

Also in January, Anar welcomed the ELCA MENA Desk Bishops Delegation during their Solidarity Visit to the Evangelical Lutheran Church in Jordan and the Holy Land (ELCJHL). Here, Rami Khader and Presiding ELCA Bishop Rev. Yehiel Curry shared a moment of appreciation during their time together.

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Other Recent News

This coming April, Healing to Hope will make our first official site visit to Anar in Palestine! While individual board members have traveled to Bethlehem previously, this will be our first group delegation. All of us at Anar and Healing to Hope are excited and inspired by the prospect of being together in person. We will be sharing our experiences in a May webinar, so stay tuned for more details in the weeks to come.

In January, delegations from the ELCA, Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.), and the UCC visited Anar in Palestine and spoke with Anar ED Rami Khader. Read more in these two powerful articles that illuminate the necessity and context for Anar’s work:

Trauma Care Needs Among West Bank Palestinians Are Up Dramatically Over the Past Two Years by Mike Ferguson in the Presbyterian News Service
When Justice Never Comes by Rev. Sheri Prestemon in UCC News Digest

In February, Healing to Hope ED Sarah Myers traveled to Texas to present on Anar’s work and visit with LCMS clergy in the San Antonio area, as well as share a talk called “HEALING TO HOPE during the Fight for Justice: Anar’s Palestinian-led, Arts-based Community Building and Healing Work with Children and Caregivers” with graduate students and faculty in the Drama and Theatre for Youth and Communities MFA program and Performance as Public Practice PhD program at UT-Austin.

Later in the month, Sarah gave a remote presentation to Saint James Lutheran Church in Johnston, Iowa, connecting with a new community of supporters. If you’re interested in setting up a remote or in-person session in your own community, please reach out to us at info@healingtohope.org.

Thank You

Thank you for supporting the work of Healing to Hope and Anar to advance the well-being and resilience of Palestinian children and caregivers impacted by violence and oppression. We appreciate our entire community for committing to the movement for justice and healing in Palestine.