Jayna Zweiman, Welcome Blanket

Jayna Zweiman wants to wrap the world in kindness and warmth.

She founded Welcome Blanket in 2017 as an invitation to crafters to make handmade blankets for refugees who have just arrived in the United States. Originally, she pictured 2,000 miles of blankets, as long a distance as the proposed wall along the southern border. Instead of a barrier, Jayna imagined the distance as an opportunity to welcome refugees as they establish a new life.

Nearly a decade later, crafters have far exceeded the initial goal. With more than 8,000 blankets made and distributed so far, she has set a new goal: 36,521 blankets, enough to circle the Earth. In 2026, the project received the Golden Scissors Award for Social Impact, which recognizes leaders in the craft industry.

Giving a Welcome Blanket is straightforward:

Make a 40" x 40" blanket by hand, using any technique and materials you like (as long as they're easy to care for). It should be difficult to give the blanket up because you love it so much.

Include a note of welcome that shares something about your own experience of immigration, migration, or relocation.

Send the blanket and note to be distributed through one of Welcome Blanket’s partner organizations or shown first at one of the organization’s public exhibitions.

The connection to the immigrant experience is personal for Jayna, whose grandfather told her about his first look at the Statue of Liberty when he immigrated to the United States. As she points out, though, each person’s experience of migration and relocation is unique, from the Pilgrims to relocated indigenous Americans to recent arrivals. Many Welcome Blanket crafters aren’t sure what to write in their welcome notes, but whatever the personal history, the notes are the opportunity for connection and shared feeling of humanity.

Refugee families often arrive with very little and have only a few days to set up a new home or take a long bus ride to another city. Welcome Blanket recipients might receive their blankets in a welcome box alongside toothbrushes and other basic supplies, tucked into a backpack, or waiting in a first apartment. For people who have left nearly everything behind, a handmade blanket is a rare gift: something new that carries another person’s hands and care.

Some of the blankets are distributed right away, but many are displayed in exhibits in art museums, cultural centers, and airports. The first show, at the Smart Museum of Art at the University of Chicago, began wit