Bloomworks isn't just a nonprofit; it's a community organizing ecosystem where transformational care and lived experience drive the work.
Featured Projects
We are currently working on building teams and support networks to assist those detained by ICE in Iowa. Check out our link "Get involved" to see how you can support this work. There's truly a place for EVERYONE in this! From front lines, to behind the scenes, we welcome you to our team. Below you can learn about two of our first initiatives, Monarch Messengers and Packs for Friends!
Monarch Messengers
"Monarch Messengers" is our direct support initiative serving individuals detained by ICE and their families through advocacy, family outreach, emotional support, connection to critical resources, and accompaniment throughout the detention process. Our volunteers help ensure individuals are not navigating detention in isolation, providing compassionate support from initial detention through case navigation and, if deportation occurs, maintaining connection and support through the process and beyond borders whenever possible.
Packs for Friends - Omaha
Packs for Friends began with one simple request. A.S. was being held in immigration detention. Every day, he asked me the same question: "Did you find out about the backpack?" He had been in the United States for 9 years, coming legally as a teenager. Everything he owned was here.... and he so badly wanted what he could fit into a backpack to take with him.
I tried everything. I went to the ICE field office. I went to the front desk at the jail. When he was transferred, I even sat outside the jail hoping someone could help in the middle of the night. I called the Omaha ICE office. I sent emails. I kept asking.
And I kept hitting dead ends. I couldn't get a simple answer about whether one person could receive one backpack other than being told I needed to talk to someone else. Somewhere in that frustration, an idea began to take shape. What if people didn't have to do this alone? What if, instead of one person scrambling to help, there were volunteers across Iowa and beyond who could pass backpacks from town to town, ensuring that every person leaving detention had a few essential items and a reminder that they weren't forgotten?
Before I knew how it would work, my friend Felina in Omaha reached out and essentially said "I am here to help!" As we talked through the logistics, that conversation changed everything. She mobilized a group of folks who got to work gathering items and identifying roles. Today they take turns delivering backpacks 2x per week in Omaha, for individuals deported from Iowa. Every item inside our Packs for Friends backpacks is there because someone with lived experience told us it mattered. We include a few changes of clothes, comfortable shoes whenever possible, and a phone charger. A phone charger may seem like a small thing, but imagine arriving in a country where you may have no one waiting for you, no transportation arranged, and a phone with a dead battery. That charger can be the difference between being stranded at an airport and being able to call family, coordinate a ride, or take the first step toward safety.
What started as one person's daily request for a backpack has grown into a volunteer-powered network ensuring that no one leaves detention carrying only the weight of what they've lost. From there we were then able to grow out our other teams. Liaisons for Monarch Messengers work closely with Packs for Friends to reach those deported. Every backpack is a reminder that, even in one of life's hardest moments, someone cared enough to prepare for your journey.
