Handmade blankets for refugees sit on a table at a Welcome Blanket giveaway at the Association of Africans Living in Vermont, March 21, 2023, in Burlington, Vt.

Handmade blankets for refugees are displayed during a Welcome Blanket exhibit at the Winooski Heritage Mill Museum, Feb. 17, 2023, in Winooski, Vt.

Mochozi Bigelegele, left, and Martha Mlebinge, center, both originally from Congo, and Fatuma Hussein, right, originally from Burundi, hold handmade blankets they picked out at a Welcome Blanket ...

BURLINGTON, Vt. — “Welcome to the USA,” says a note attached to a hand-crocheted blanket of purple, white and gray stripes. Hollie Shaner-McRae, of Burlington, Vermont, who made the blanket ...