Rita Thara lives in Boise, Idaho. She's 27-year-old fashion designer who loves pizza and watches The Tonight Show starring Jimmy Fallon before bed. She's also a refugee from the Democratic Republic of Congo.

Thara is among thousands of refugees living in Idaho, a state particularly welcoming to those fleeing violence, famine, or persecution in the Middle East, Africa, and beyond.1 Los Angeles photographer Angie Smith has spent more than a year meeting hundreds of them and making their portraits for the ongoing series Stronger Shines the Light Inside.

Idaho has taken in almost 30,000 refugees from more than 50 countries since 1975. About 1,000 arrive each year, and 70 percent of them end up in Boise, a city of just 214,000 people. They find jobs doing everything from washing dishes and driving Ubers to teaching in college and running businesses. “The perception of Idaho is that there’s no diversity,” Smith says. “Yet there are all these immigrants.”

Thara's family fled political violence in Kinshasa when she was 8, and the State Department settled her in Boise when she was 23. She learned English, got a driver's license, and opened a boutique where she sold clothing of her own design.

When refugees arrive in Boise, caseworkers help them with tasks you probably take for granted, like navigating a supermarket and opening a bank account. Everyone gets a basic education in cultural, professional, and financial affairs, and English classes if they don't speak the language. Thara found acclimating to Idaho tricky at first, especially once the caseworkers moved on, but she's come to love the place. “I feel very welcome in Boise,” she says. “People here are so friendly. They know how to welcome others. They know how to smile at people.”

The idea for the series came to Smith in 2011; she was visiting her father in Boise and noticed women in traditional African dress walking down the street. She was struck by the bright colors, and wanted to know more about the women wearing them. She met Thara in March, 2015 while visiting Boise’s International Market, a collection of 16 shops run largely by refugees. They hit it off, and Thara introduced Smith to neighbors and invited her to services at her mostly Congolese church. Smith made portraits of people in their homes and at weddings, graduations, and the like.

Angie Smith

Doors to the broader community opened in August, when Smith won a $10,000 grant from Boise's department of art and history. She photographed immigrants from the Middle East and North Africa, and joined the International Rescue Committee in picking up new arrivals. She watched caseworkers show a Somalian woman, newly arrived with three youngsters, how to use the stove and toaster in her hotel kitchenette. “Every day the caseworkers are running all over Boise," Smith says. "There are so many aspects of life to help someone through.”

The intimate portraits reveal the diversity, resilience and vitality of those making America their home. One photo shows Sonia Ekemon in her front yard, a bright scarf around her head and a quiet suburban neighborhood behind her. Twenty years ago, a snakebite nearly killed Ekemon as she fled her village in Togo. Today she is a US citizen with two jobs, one at a local hospital and another braiding hair.

Of course, not everyone is so welcoming, and lawmakers occasionally get an earful from those want to turn refugees away. It's also hard to forget that Donald Trump has made anti-immigrant and anti-Muslim sentiment a cornerstone of his presidential campaign. Smith doesn't wade into the politics, but does hope her photos humanize the debate, and foster acceptance and understanding. "It comes down to emotions and what is important to us, which is family and loved ones and safety and pursuing a life of happiness and joy," she says. "That’s a common thing we all want."

UPDATE: 14:34 EST 06/15/16. This post was updated to clarify the number of refugees currently living in Idaho.