Called To Serve

Dallas is home to one of the largest groups of refugees in the country. Samira Page has made it her mission to help as many as she can.

- Eric Benson

With a brightly colored manicure and a head of thick ink-black curls, Samira Izadi Page cuts a striking figure amidst the steel and sprawl of Dallas, her adopted home. A refugee from Iran, Samira emanates intensity but also lightness, with an easy smile and an infectious laugh that draws friends, family, and even strangers toward her.

Samira is the founder, executive director, and heart and soul of Gateway of Grace, an outreach ministry with an ambitious dual mission: to make life easier for the thousands of refugee families who stream into the city each year, and to bridge the gap between those people and the Dallas residents who might see them as outsiders.

“We want to remove the fears that some in the community may have about refugees and offer a platform for providing the new families with a support system,” says Samira, 45. “We hope that these new relationships become lifelong friendships.”

AN INSPIRED MISSION

With her then husband and their two young sons, Samira arrived in the Lone Star State in 1999 after a harrowing journey from Iran through Turkey and eventually to Mexico. Their new life in Dallas came together quickly: Before the sun set on their first day there, a member of the Wilshire Baptist Church had set the family up in a fully furnished apartment. Soon this church community became like a second family to Samira. “The way they reached out really changed my life and inspired my work,” she says.