AWE — Free Peer Community for Women Seeking Asylum (Baltimore)
Asylee Women Enterprise (AWE) is a Baltimore-based nonprofit providing a community of support and stability for women seeking asylum in the United States. AWE combines housing assistance, peer support groups, English classes, professional development, social work support, and a sustained community of women — women who have fled persecution in their home countries and are working through the years-long U.S. asylum process. AWE’s peer model gives newly arrived asylum seekers a community of other women who understand the legal, emotional, and practical complexity of the journey.
What to Expect
AWE’s peer programming includes weekly group gatherings (often combining English-language learning, peer sharing, and community building), one-on-one peer mentor matches between newly arrived women and AWE community members who arrived earlier, holiday and cultural celebrations that recognize the diverse backgrounds of AWE women, and ongoing community events. AWE also provides direct services — emergency housing for women newly arrived from detention, social work support through the asylum process, professional development, and connection to legal services. The combination of practical support and sustained peer community is core to AWE’s approach.
Who This Group Is For
AWE serves women seeking asylum in the U.S., regardless of country of origin, religion, or family status. Members include women from across Africa, Latin America, Asia, the Middle East, and other regions, navigating the U.S. asylum process and rebuilding their lives. AWE primarily serves women in the Baltimore metropolitan area but also receives referrals from across the region. Children of AWE women are welcomed in many programs, and AWE supports women with and without families.
Why Peer Support Works
Women seeking asylum often describe profound isolation in the U.S. — separated from family, navigating an unfamiliar legal system, often unable to work for the first 150+ days of their case, and carrying significant trauma from what they fled. AWE’s peer model addresses that isolation by giving women a community of other women on the same journey — women who understand the asylum process from the inside, who have walked the road, and who become trusted relationships that often last for years.
How to Join
AWE services and programs are free for participants. Visit asyleewomen.org to learn about programs, request services for women seeking asylum, volunteer, or contact AWE staff. AWE primarily serves the Baltimore region but accepts referrals and inquiries from women in surrounding states.