Listen to This Article — In keeping with our commitment to accessibility, this post is available in audio format. Press play to listen.
DFW Refugee Outreach Services is one of eight organizations nominated for the 2026 AMCF Women’s Giving Circle cycle. A member of the Circle put their name forward, and the organization went on to successfully complete the application. We publish a feature on each nominee so that voting members know who they are choosing between, and so the wider community can see the range of Muslim-led work our members put forward.
For refugee and immigrant families arriving in the Dallas-Fort Worth area, starting over is both hopeful and overwhelming. Finding employment, navigating unfamiliar systems, learning English, and building financial stability all arrive at once. DFW Refugee Outreach Services was founded on the belief that no family should have to navigate those challenges alone.
Founded in 2016 by Zeenat Khan, DFWROS nurtures and uplifts refugee families through mentorship, education, and access to essential resources. What began as a small volunteer effort, preparing meals for families in need and making door-to-door visits in refugee apartment complexes, has grown into a community-centered nonprofit serving families with dignity, compassion, and practical support.
The organization’s mission extends beyond meeting immediate needs. DFWROS builds pathways toward independence, equipping individuals with skills and opportunities so that every family has a real chance to thrive. Through food assistance, English language education, driving classes, case management, emergency relief, and youth mentorship, the organization walks alongside families as they establish new lives in North Texas.
Hope Kitchen: Creating Opportunity Through Food
One of the organization’s most meaningful initiatives is Hope Kitchen, a refugee women-led catering enterprise started by Hiba Tanvir.
Hope Kitchen grew out of a simple understanding: empowerment is more than providing assistance. It is about helping women use their talents, develop skills, and earn an income with dignity.
Through authentic Afghan, Pakistani, and other halal cuisine, Hope Kitchen turns culinary skill into economic opportunity. Women participate in catering, community events, and food-related entrepreneurship while sharing their cultural heritage with the wider community. The program now serves more than 500 meals each week.
The shift it represents matters. Participants move from receiving support to building independence and confidence. Every meal prepared is an opportunity to celebrate culture, create connection, and contribute to a woman’s economic journey.
Hope Boutique: Empowering Women, One Stitch at a Time
That commitment to women’s economic empowerment also extends to Hope Boutique, a refugee women-led business built around sewing, tailoring, and handmade goods.
Women create clothing, scarves, dresses, bedding covers, and other products using skills they have learned or brought with them from their home countries. The boutique also offers alterations and custom dressmaking.
Hope Boutique provides more than a place to learn sewing. It gives women a way to turn their abilities into income, develop confidence, and build a stronger sense of ownership over their futures. Every purchase and alteration supports the women behind the work.
Together, Hope Kitchen and Hope Boutique reflect a conviction that sustainable empowerment happens when people have access to skills, meaningful opportunities, and a supportive community.
An Impact Story: From Section 8 Housing to Homeownership
Among the outcomes DFWROS is proudest of is what Hope Kitchen has meant for women’s financial independence.
Three women connected to Hope Kitchen have moved from Section 8 housing into homes of their own.
That milestone represents more than homeownership. It reflects the power of opportunity, perseverance, and the ability to build financial stability over time. When women have the chance to earn, save, and invest in their futures, the impact reaches past the individual to their families and the generations that follow.
These are the stories that explain why the organization keeps investing in programs that move beyond short-term relief and toward lasting independence.
A Decade of Service in North Texas
Since its founding, DFWROS has supported more than 1,000 families and distributed over 120,000 meals and food packages. Those numbers represent real families, real relationships, and communities strengthened through consistent service.
The work is grounded in a straightforward principle: DFWROS does not simply provide services, it walks alongside families until they are standing on their own.
Looking ahead, the organization plans to expand economic empowerment opportunities, strengthen its community programs, and help more refugee and immigrant women develop sustainable sources of income. The vision is a future where every family it serves has greater access to education, employment, financial stability, and a genuine sense of belonging.
Why We Are Featuring DFW Refugee Outreach Services
DFWROS is on this list because a Women’s Giving Circle member nominated them and they completed the application. That is the whole reason, and it is the point of the Circle: the organizations we fund are chosen by our members, not selected for us.
Resettlement funding tends to concentrate on a family’s first months in the country. What DFWROS has built addresses the years that follow, when the initial support has ended but the path to stability is still being laid. Programs like Hope Kitchen and Hope Boutique are not relief. They are infrastructure for independence, and that kind of work depends on patient, sustained funding rather than one-time gifts. Whether it receives this cycle’s funding is now a decision for the Circle’s voting members.
How the Women’s Giving Circle Decides
The AMCF Women’s Giving Circle pools the giving of Muslim women and decides together where it goes.
Members who give $5 or more during a cycle can nominate one organization. Voting members, who give $420 or more per cycle or $35 monthly, vote in two rounds: the first narrows the nominees to five finalists, and the second selects three grantees. Finalists and grantees are announced at AMCF’s annual awards ceremony in November.
Meet all eight 2026 nominees and see the full range of work our members put forward this cycle.
Join the Women’s Giving Circle before voting opens, or upgrade to voting membership, so the choice between these eight is partly yours.
You can also learn more about DFW Refugee Outreach Services at dfwros.org or give to them directly at dfwros.org/donate.