Announcement
Welcoming Week is a special time to build connections as we strive to make our communities a more welcoming place for all. This year we celebrated creating home together and highlighted our history and various programs we have been able to provide through the years.
But we couldn’t start Welcoming Week without looking at our community, and how you have created home together. Through your actions, your donations, and your spirit y’all have shown that refugees and immigrants are wanted and welcomed in North Texas.
From the individual who buys gifts for Home for the Holidays, to the intern who drives a family to a doctor’s appointment, to the faith communities who come out in droves when we ask for help, to the couple who donates for North Texas Giving Day, we know we are only able to do our work because of the how you make Dallas a welcoming place.
Join us as we look at how, with your help, IRC in Dallas creates home together.
- Starting in 1975, our community has helped the IRC to create home for nearly 26,000 refugees from 52 countries in the Dallas area.
- We have been welcoming asylum seekers across our community since 2016. Through a partnership with RAICES, and as part of the SAFE network with the City of Dallas, and the Vera Institute of Justice, we have been able to help 246 families and individuals in the Dallas area.
- We provide mental health services to a diverse part of the community. The IRC specializes in working with those whose cultural needs are not addressed by the healthcare system. From breaking language barriers to addressing cultural norms to the use of Cultural Brokers and music therapy, we provide holistic evidence-based mental health care.
- Alongside refugees, the IRC in Dallas has been resettling SIVs (Special Immigrant Visa holders) and their families for over fifteen years. SIVs have worked with the US Government in Afghanistan and Iraq and are given special visas to come to America. Our wrap-around services help these men and women receive employment support, job training, and mental health services. We have even co-hosted events where military veterans and SIVs gather together to create networks and talk about living in America.
- Despite the barriers of the last three years, our immigration department has continued to work for our community and welcome our new neighbors to Texas. Through the difficulties we have been able to help DACA recipients, green card holders, future citizens, unaccompanied minors, and Dallas residents detained by ICE as they navigate the American legal system.
As we look into the future of welcoming in Dallas, we have hope in our hearts due to the consistent support of our community. Thank you for all you do, and happy Welcoming Week!
