Los Angeles, CA, June 20, 2016 — The California Endowment today announced a $306,344 grant to the International Rescue Committee in Los Angeles, to help support the health and mental health needs of Syrian refugees who will be resettling in California. It is anticipated that approximately 10,000 Syrian refugees will be resettled in the U.S. this year, with approximately 25 percent of them to be resettled in California. San Diego, Sacramento, Los Angeles, Oakland and the Central Valley are the regions expected to receive the majority of the Syrian refugees who will resettle in California.
“These are individuals and families that have suffered greatly and it is our duty as Californians to help welcome them and integrate them into our communities,” said Robert K. Ross, MD, president and CEO, The California Endowment. “Not only have they endured the trauma of war and will most certainly need immediate access to health and mental health services, but they have also risked perilous obstacles just to get to a place of safety.”
The majority of funding will go directly to resettlement agencies accepting the most Syrian refugees to help access health, mental and social services, to help ensure coordination among California’s 22 resettlement agencies, and to support communications strategies that support the refugee resettlement effort.
“To be effective, the state’s resettlement agencies will have to coordinate to a greater degree than ever before,” said Martin Zogg, Executive Director, IRC in Los Angeles. “This first-ever project will ensure Syrian refugees receive a more a comprehensive and coordinated statewide response than any previous group of arriving refugees. But it will also provide a model for interagency collaboration that will benefit all refugees resettled in the state. We’re deeply grateful for The California Endowment’s singular consideration and support for this unique community of immigrants.”
The International Rescue Committee in Los Angeles (IRC-LA), has resettled refugees in California for more than 40 years and is one of the oldest and largest resettlement agencies in the state. It is one of eight International Rescue Center offices throughout California and has strong relationships with IRC offices in San Diego, Sacramento, Oakland, San Jose and a number of other refugee agencies throughout the state.
The California Endowment, a private, statewide health foundation, was established in 1996 to expand access to, quality health care for underserved individuals and communities, and to promote fundamental affordable improvements in the health status of all Californians. The Endowment challenges the conventional wisdom that medical settings and individual choices are solely responsible for people’s health. Through its ‘Health Happens Here’ campaign and ten-year initiative Building Healthy Communities, The Endowment is creating places where children are healthy, safe and ready to learn. At its core, The Endowment believes that health happens in neighborhoods, schools, and with prevention. For more information, visit The California Endowment’s website at www.calendow.org.