Photo courtesy of Hanan Refugee Relief Group
Sheila Badwan
Sheila Badwan
Refugee resettlement agency Hanan Relief Group (3927 S. Howell Ave.) has undergone significant leadership changes with the recent departure of executive director Sheila Badwan, who had been in her role since 2023 and had volunteered with the organization since 2017. In Badwan’s place, Sausan Naji has been appointed interim director of operations and will oversee Hanan’s programs, partnerships and responsibilities.
A press release from the agency dated May 22 states, “We appreciate [Badwan’s] contributions and dedication during her time with Hanan Relief Group and wish her all the best in her future endeavors and next opportunities.” It continues, “Hanan Relief Group remains fully committed to the values that have always guided our work: integrity, accountability, transparency, and serving the vulnerable and underserved communities who depend on us. This transition does not affect our programs or our relationships with the partners and funders we are proud to work alongside.”
Founded by Ruba Sarsour in North Carolina in 2017, Hanan Relief Group incorporated its Milwaukee chapter the same year with the mission to support and acclimate immigrants and refugees. Out of just a handful of certified resettlement agencies nationwide, Hanan is distinctly the only Muslim-run agency, which enables the organization to cater to its community with exceptional cultural sensitivity and consciousness.
Working with Refugees
Prior to Hanan, Badwan first started working with refugees in 2016 during the Syrian crisis. “It started from a text message and picture I got from a Syrian family in Sheboygan saying they needed help,” she recalls. “Then I met a Syrian family of 13 in Milwaukee who were placed in a condemned home. I remember I went home and I cried. People here who don’t have anything are experiencing secondary trauma all over again.”
After spending time volunteering with the North Side-based Mar’uf Youth Center, Badwan joined Hanan from its inception in Milwaukee, which she says quickly gained traction on account of the Trump administration’s travel ban. “We were filling in the gaps of what resettlement agencies like Lutheran Social Services and International Institute were supposed to do. Because they were overwhelmed, they weren’t able to provide that quality service.”
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During the Afghan Crisis in 2021, Hanan was approached by Islamic Relief USA to assist with refugee resettlement. Although the agency had no staff and was entirely volunteer-based, Badwan affirms Hanan was up for the challenge. “We had tons of volunteers because people were really upset about what was happening.” That year, Hanan helped resettle about 50 Afghans and supported them with home setups and doctor appointments. In 2022, the agency moved into its current office space above MKE Classic Pizza and began hiring a proper team.
By the time Hanan became a certified resettlement agency in 2023, the organization had 25 staff members and continued to work closely with Islamic Relief USA as well as its parent organization International Rescue Committee (IRC). “That was the largest year for us in resettlement,” Badwan mentions. In addition to resettling Syrians and Afghans, Hanan has supported prominent populations of Rohingya, Ukrainian, Congolese, Nicaraguan and Venezuelan refugees while also raising funds for humanitarian groups in Palestine.
Gutted by Trump
Once Trump returned to office in 2025, however, resettlement agencies across the U.S. took a huge hit, as Badwan explains. “In a span of three years, we were a small organization just trying to build the structure, then we created the structure, and then last year we lost $1.5 million. We had to do a lot of layoffs, then at the end of the year when Trump issued the travel ban it was a hundred times worse than anybody imagined.”
Trump also gutted the Bureau of Population, Refugees and Migration, which oversees the entire resettlement of refugees for the initial 90 days. "All of the states were scrambling." Badwan continues. "Our partnership with Islamic Relief ended.”
Badwan and her team worked out a partnership with IRC to save Hanan as a resettlement agency. In addition to slashing federal resettlement money, however, Trump has limited refugee resettlement to white Afrikaners from South Africa, who are not the demographic organizations like Hanan were established for. “They are clearly not refugees,” Badwan asserts. “There are agencies that have shut their doors because they just don’t want to be resettling them. The ones left are in survival mode right now. This is where we’re at today.”
Since losing funding and adapting to policy shifts, Hanan has pivoted to focusing on supporting refugee families who arrived prior to the travel ban with things like food stamps, medication, transportation, housing, English as Second Language (ESL) classes, green card applications and employment. In partnership with Hunger Task Force, the agency runs a halal food pantry that distributes food boxes every Friday from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m.
Achieving Independence
Reflecting on her tenure with Hanan, Badwan believes one of her biggest accomplishments to be helping refugee women become independent, specifically with an ESL class for Afghan women in 2022. “Women coming in were illiterate in their own language and didn’t drive,” Badwan shares. “From what I have seen in the last ten years of this work, refugee women always get left behind when they come here. The husband goes out to work but women don’t have a way to socialize and they need those resources. Seeing the majority of these women become self-sufficient and learning to read and write in English, working and getting their driver’s licenses made me so proud.”
She cites the establishment of the Dr. Ahmad Nasif Scholarship to be a huge success as well—one she hopes to remain involved with. The scholarship’s namesake doctor had been one of Hanan’s founding members as well as a selfless Syrian community leader. “He helped open a Syrian restaurant and was also the co-signer for many Syrian families purchasing homes,” Badwan notes. “He also helped a lot of Syrians here start up their businesses. We’ve given over 25 of those scholarships in the state of Wisconsin.”
As she transitions into her new role with a national consulting firm, Badwan hopes for Hanan to continue operating by way of its renowned, community-centered model for supporting refugees. “People have told me that we’ve changed resettlement nationwide. We would go to conferences where people thought what we were doing was amazing, and other agencies would take some of that back to their own cities. I think we do it well because all of us are passionate about the work.”
Badwan will continue to be involved in the Milwaukee community via her roles on the boards of Wisconsin Muslim Civic Alliance as well as the Palestinian Students Scholarship Fund out of Chicago. “I wouldn’t trade the last ten years,” she says. “I’ve met wonderful people along the way. We’ve helped thousands of people in our different programs, all from the work of the staff and founders of Hanan.”
To support Hanan Relief Group or learn more, visit the agency’s website.
