About The Project

The Community Integration Hub links humanitarian support and food security with long-term social and economic inclusion in a single, community-led model. Implemented by Venezolanos en Barranquilla, the Hub unites refugees, migrants, Colombian returnees, and host communities around shared needs and opportunities.

At its heart is “Panela y Papelón”, a community kitchen named after the Colombian and Venezuelan words for unrefined cane sugar. The name states the premise: different roots, one shared table. The kitchen offers much more than food. It serves as a hub for social cohesion, combining food assistance with skills training, employment and entrepreneurship opportunities, women’s empowerment, and leadership development.

What sets the model apart is its ability to turn participation into leadership. Participants arrive to gain support, and leave to deliver it to others.

Migrants and volunteers lead the organization. For more than a decade, the Hub has been a recognized voice for refugee and migrant inclusion in Colombia. Now, it is documenting what works so that other communities can adapt and replicate the model.