As the coronavirus continues to impact our communities, the IRC in Baltimore remains committed to supporting our clients with high quality resettlement and immigration legal services. Now more than ever, IRC staff and clients rely on a network of public and private partners for support.

Word spread quickly through the small Arabic-speaking community in Missoula this spring that after an almost two year wait, the IRC would be resettling a family from Iraq. Thanks to our community for stepping up to welcome them.

Over the past 6 months, the Safety and Wellness department has been taking immense strides to incorporate mental health and psychosocial support programming into the IRC in NY Resettlement Office. These efforts have been very successful with clients reporting an increased understanding around mental health and wellbeing and applying valuable coping strategies to manage stressful situations. 

One of the easiest and most impactful ways to welcome refugees to your community is to pull together your networks and social groups through a fundraiser. Now more than ever, individual private support is crucial to the work we do in resettling refugee families and our work with the immigrant community. Raising funds through group efforts with your friends and family is a great help as we head into uncertain times.

In the first installation of Youth Voices, a Dallas high school student, resettled by the IRC in 2013, pens an essay on the importance of African and African American historical representation in school.

Bothina Matar, who fled the war in Syria in 2015, describes the situation her family is facing and her message to the president-elect: “I hope he will keep his promises.”

Even after refugees and asylum seekers have arrived in New York City, most who were fleeing a harmful or dangerous situation, may still not feel completely safe. This, coupled with the stress and uncertainty of the resettlement process can cause various mental health concerns in NYC’s migrant population.

Private donations contribute greatly to the success of the IRC's work. Although we receive state and federal funding for initial resettlement and employment services, the assistance we provide to refugee families beyond their first few months in the U.S. would not be possible without community support.

Youth Voices, Issue 2: March 21 is World Poetry Day, and we are highlighting poems written by two middle school students, who were both resettled in Dallas.

Some Afghans in the U.S. could soon lose their ability to work, find health care, reunite with family members and even their legal right to live in the country.