Starting in 2019, the Phoenix and Tucson offices of the International Rescue Committee (IRC) will unify as the IRC in Arizona! Aaron Rippenkroeger, who has served as Executive Director of the IRC in Phoenix since August 2018, has been named the new Executive Director of the IRC in Arizona.

Raffi Gostanian came to the United States from Syria 15 years ago on a student visa. A jazz musician who plays the saxophone and piano, he intended to study music but graduated with a political science degree from William Paterson University. As a front desk volunteer at IRC for the last 10 months, Raffi has diligently trekked twice a week from Paterson, home to a large Arab community, to IRC’s office in Elizabeth.

Like the tiny seedlings in the greenhouse at the CamelBackyard Community Food Hub, the International Rescue Committee (IRC) in Phoenix’s New Roots Farm Stand has a lot of potential.

Robert P. DeVecci Emergency Fund established.

The IRC’s Refugee Youth Summer Academy is a program designed to help newly arrived students understand and become accustomed to public schools in the U.S. The program works with students of all ages to thrive in a new culture by exposing them to American teaching styles and subjects.