The St. Louis Mosaic Project has a big goal: By 2025, make St. Louis the fastest-growing major metropolitan area for people born outside the U.S.

The project, an initiative of World Trade Center St. Louis, is among a network of local programs and organizations that work to ease the transition of resettling in the region. And U.S. Census data show that St. Louis is making progress toward that target. As recently as 2018, St. Louis was among the metro areas with the fastest-growing foreign-born populations, at 4.1%, outpacing the national growth of 0.5%.

Foreign-born people make up just over 5%, or about 130,500 residents, of the St. Louis region’s population, according to the 2020 census. Immigrants resettle in St. Louis for various reasons, including job opportunities, universities and seeking asylum.

Groups helping foreign-born people establish new lives in St. Louis fill various niches:

Welcome Neighbor STL and Oasis International focus on connecting refugee families to community and resources, such as household items, clothes and networking events.