It was 1979, and a “Good Morning America” correspondent asked a refugee what he and others fleeing post-war Vietnam needed. The answer was “sponsors.”
Marty Deputy wanted to help. She wanted to be a sponsor and invite refugees to her home in Bowling Green, Ky., but two groups that placed refugees with host families in the U.S. had already rejected her. So she called the show’s producers, who referred her to an agency willing to accept her help.
It was the beginning of a movement that would change her city. As Deputy opened her home to dozens of refugees over the years, word spread about her work in this unlikely haven for refugees. Volunteers gave their time and resources, and everything was done without state or federal funding.
“We didn’t have any training,” Deputy says. “We just knew … what people need. What do you need? You need to have groceries. What do you need? You need sheets. You need to drive a car. So we just did what we knew was needed.”
In 1981, Deputy created the International Center, a nonprofit that provides employment, educational, and advocacy services to refugees and immigrants. In the last 15 years, the organization has helped 4,700 people, including the 3,700 refugees it brought to the U.S.
But Deputy is modest about her role in the city’s transformation.
“I don’t do anything for anybody,” she says. “I never did. I just opened that door for them to get what they want.”
