Nashville Benefit Concert Aims to Support Refugees and Immigrants Facing Funding Uncertainty

A lineup of well-known musicians is set to take the stage at 3rd and Lindsley on Tuesday, Aug. 12, for Sounds of Welcome, a benefit concert supporting the Nashville International Center for Empowerment, known as NICE. The nonprofit assists refugees, asylees and immigrants across Middle Tennessee.

Performers include singer-songwriter Suzy Bogguss, the Phil Madeira Trio, whose members all play in Emmylou Harris' band, Marcela Pinilla, Will Barrow, and the Yeli Ensemble, which will appear with musician, educator and indie label head Jeff Coffin. Coffin also performs with Dave Matthews Band.

The show is open to all ages, and tickets, including fees, start at $26.26. Elizabeth Harrington, NICE's associate director of development, says the modest price is deliberate. The organization wants to be as inclusive as possible and to introduce a wide range of Nashvillians to its work.

"We're trying to involve folks in Nashville who care about current events and who have a heart for our new American community members and want to get involved," Harrington says. She describes the present as a challenging moment of federal funding uncertainty, and says NICE is working to keep empowering the communities that "make Nashville the city that we love to live in."

NICE has traditionally offered resettlement and social services to newly arrived refugees, asylees and immigrants. Although new refugee arrivals are currently paused, Harrington says considerable need remains among those who have already settled in Nashville. Before the administration closed the U.S. Refugee Admissions Program in January, NICE's resettlement program alone was serving 150 recent arrivals, or 36 families. Harrington notes that the program had existed with bipartisan support since 1980. Those newcomers lost the benefits and infrastructure that would ordinarily support them, and NICE is trying to fill the gaps, she says.

The organization also helps subsidize immigration application fees, especially for green card applications and renewals, which can top $7,000 for a family of five. NICE is further preparing for a likely rise in food insecurity tied to upcoming changes to the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program. In 2022, 733,866 people in Tennessee received SNAP benefits. Money raised at the concert will go toward this work.

Bogguss says she did not know what NICE stood for until Barrow called her about the concert. "I'm just so glad to know that Nashville has a service like this," she says, adding that finding help with language and culture must be a great relief for someone who has fled their homeland to build a better life.

The concert is one of several events marking NICE's 20th anniversary year. On Sept. 18, the organization will hold its 20th Anniversary Gala at Rocketown. Tickets for that event range from $200 to $1,500, and the evening will feature music, visual art by local refugee and immigrant artists, and stories of resilience.

Bogguss says she looks forward to sharing the stage with the other artists and playing "colorful music from many cultures." She hopes the night will encourage others who are new to NICE to take an interest in its work, and says she is proud to be part of an evening celebrating kindness.