We all know that at the heart of today’s news stories, numerous conflicts divide peoples, and refugees are a painful reminder of this: they endure physical suffering; are forced out of their homes; or sometimes pay the price with their lives. Syria, Iraq, Eritrea, Somalia, Central African Republic, Lampedusa, Greece, and many other lands, remind us of this everyday…

These stories are an issue for all of us. But what if the issue, often seen in quantitative and problematic terms, became personal, with the aim to change our perception of migration?

Such is the challenge in the eyes of the Josefa Foundation.

Indeed, at the heart of the European capital, what is our testimonial? How can we change, in order to turn this reality around and build something new together, whereby there is no giver and taker? What kind of "living together" are we going to build? It is not a question of dealing with the "refugee problem", but of allowing ourselves to be touched by the other, welcoming the uniqueness of his or her past, culture and beliefs.

Hospitality is at the heart of the Josefa mission.

Faced with the risk of indifference, the invitation for change is strongly supported, among others, by the European authorities. How can we not quote them?

The European Commission President, Jean-Claude Juncker, also urges us to recall that: "We Europeans should remember well that Europe is a continent where nearly everyone has at one time been a refugee. Our common history is marked by millions of Europeans fleeing from religious or political persecution, from war, dictatorship, or oppression. (…) Have we really forgotten that after the devastation of the Second World War, 60 million people were refugees in Europe? That as a result of this terrible European experience, a global protection regime, the 1951 Geneva Convention on the status of refugees, was established to grant refuge to those who jumped the walls in Europe to escape from war and totalitarian oppression?"

Thus, in its own way, and with you, why not?, the Josefa Foundation intends to meet this challenge of hospitality.

As a Public Utility Foundation, the Josefa Foundation’s goal is to contribute, through housing, to the ethical and sustainable integration and whole development of refugees made vulnerable by forced migration, and whose refugee status is recognized by the Belgian authorities based on international agreements.

The Josefa Foundation is working on the outfitting of a house, in Brussels (in Ixelles more exactly), the Josefa House, which will provide 42 housing units. Refugees will be able to live there, in reciprocity, with other residents who are not affected by a forced migration but want to live in the framework of this innovative proposal.

The stakeholders and partners of the Josefa Foundation would like to design, with you, among ourselves, the Josefa House by 2017. Therefore, as European citizens, and with others, affirmed by the words and deeds of the Belgian and European authorities, we do not hesitate to invite you to take part completely and actively in the Josefa House.

Such a mission, understandably, presupposes the contribution of the largest number in terms of human, material and financial resources.

Therefore, we invite you to exchange with us and to come and discover the Josefa House. We thank you, our readers, for the attention that you already give to the Josefa mission.