There was a time when Daniel Atui Atem did not have a home as he and his family fled southern Sudan after years of conflict.
"There was war in South Sudan, so we had to leave. We stayed in a refugee camp in Kenya," Mr Atem said.
Mr Atem and his young family spent more than 10 years in the Kenyan refugee camp before being resettled in the north-east New South Wales city of Tamworth five months ago.
He said he has never felt more welcome.
"As soon as we came here, we felt happy. My children are going to school, I'm learning English, and we are enjoying the weather here."
He is being helped by Multicultural Tamworth, a volunteer organisation established to help migrants and refugees settle into life in the city.
The group's secretary, Juanita Doody said refugees face having to make some big adjustments.
"We have a lot of refugees in Tamworth who have come from refugee camps where, of course, there's nothing like technology or lighting or anything that we assume is normal. And, for them, everything is frightening and new. The language, of course, they don't have the English skills to be able to communicate."
Tamworth was not always known for welcoming refugees.
Ten years ago, the city council refused a federal government request to resettle five Sudanese refugee families in Tamworth.
Deputy Mayor Russell Webb was on the council when the decision was made.
"At that time, we made the right decision, not only for our community but for the people who are refugees. They needed to go somewhere where they could get support," he said.
Since then, though, the city has undergone a dramatic shift, welcoming migrants from more than 80 countries.
Ms Doody said newly arrived migrants and refugees have helped fill the local job market.
"There was a big groundswell of people who really wanted that type of image of Tamworth to be changed, because that wasn't how the grassroots people felt."
Tamworth is now home to more than 200 asylum seekers and refugees.
And local residents are hoping to host some of the 12,000 Syrian refugees coming to Australia under the federal resettlement program.
Brian Lincoln from the Tamworth Syrian Refugee Project, a group lobbying for some of the Syrian refugees to come to Tamworth, said the area has a lot to give.
"We feel Tamworth's a very wealthy and prosperous region with plenty of resources and services to help these people."
Meanwhile, Daniel Atui Atem said he was looking forward to learning English and eventually working in Tamworth.
"Since the beginning, we have felt so welcomed by everyone. It makes me happy to live here."
