Marsha Lewis, a semi-retired teacher, is one of the volunteers helping Syrian refugee Fadi al-Asmi, standing in the kitchen of Hartford's City Steam Brewery. Asmi, who co-owned a pastry shop in Damascus, now makes desserts at this Hartford cafe. Courtesy of Richard Groothuis hide caption

Marcell Shehwaro, 32, is the executive director of Kesh Malek, a Syrian group that runs schools in opposition-held areas of Aleppo. The unofficial schools hold classes in basements to protect the children, who don't go outside to play because of the the risk of being hit by bombs or ground fire. She was recently at the United Nations, lobbying world leaders to stop the attacks on Aleppo. Neil Hall/Reuters hide caption

Ghada and Osama sit on their deck in their new home in Princeton, N.J. Their family has been resettled from Syria and is being sponsored by the Nassau Presbyterian Church. Due to security concerns we are only including first names. Jake Naughton for NPR hide caption

A volunteer at the the Dar-ul-Islam mosque in Elizabeth, N.J., prepares for a party to welcome refugees. More than 50 newly arrived Syrian women and children were invited to the party. Deborah Amos/NPR hide caption

Najla cooks for Syria Day at Global Grace Café at the Reformed Church of Highland Park in New Jersey. Najla is from Syria and arrived in the U.S. 10 months ago with her husband and daughter after the United Arab Emirates canceled a residency permit, ending her job at an insurance company. Deborah Amos/NPR hide caption

Marie Colvin, shown here in London in November 2010, was killed in Homs, Syria, on Feb. 22, 2012, along with photographer Remi Ochlik. She lost her left eye after being hit by shrapnel while covering the civil war in Sri Lanka in 2001. WPA Pool/Getty Images hide caption