Erin Wilson 
The team worked hard to make the space ready in time. Regular work hours, nights, and weekends were filled with the myriad tasks it takes to prepare for the opening of a new WorkWell campus.
In the span of a few weeks, a space was found to host classes. Renovations were made. Staff were hired. Potential students were contacted, assessed, and chosen.
On opening day, the classroom was packed, much like any first day of school.
Every desk and chair was filled and teachers were prepared and eager to greet their new students. We welcomed everyone by casting a vision for their future.
But this opening day was special. This is our fourth WorkWell campus, where students whose lives are disrupted by war can reclaim their future, learn new tech skills, and launch thriving freelance careers.
It’s also our first WorkWell campus in the formerly war-torn city of Mosul. 
You showed up in Mosul in the earliest days of its liberation from ISIS, providing what residents needed to survive.
You helped renovate and staff primary health centers for residents—many of whom have no other access to healthcare to this day.
You helped to deliver food to families so hungry they ate paper, and water to those living without it.
Your donations built wells and helped residents reopen their businesses so they could provide for their families.
More recently, you provided wheelchairs for residents with mobility issues.
But the wounds of war are not mended in a moment. Emergency aid can help you weather the storm, but it cannot give you what to need to rebuild your life.
That’s what WorkWell is doing for our new friends in Mosul.
All they need to earn a living is know-how, a smartphone and an internet connection.
Whole neighborhoods remain in ruins. Much of the civic infrastructure is years away from being fully restored. Some predict it will take decades to fully rid the city of explosives planted by ISIS.
Mosul’s young adults can’t afford to wait for their city to be restored before they rebuild their lives. They cannot lose more years to war.
More than a year ago, we asked what it would take to rebuild Mosul post-ISIS: the restoration of city infrastructure, human infrastructure, and trust.
Mosul’s city infrastructure will be rebuilt with a nod to it’s past, certainly. Landmark bridges, mosques, churches, and markets that date back hundreds of years will be rebuilt to give residents back the structural heart of their community.
But the residents of Mosul are also doggedly fixed on the future.
RELATED: What Will It Take to Rebuild Mosul?
They need skills that will not only revive the traditional economy, but will allow their young adults to join a global workforce that isn’t dependent on civic infrastructure. All they need to earn a living is know-how, a smartphone and an internet connection. That is how you are currently investing in Mosul—a new WorkWell campus ready to provide opportunities.
In Mosul, you provided very real, very basic needs to allow residents to survive. Through WorkWell, you are providing very real ways for residents to thrive.
