IRC Receives $10,000 Bama Works Award

Charlottesville, VA—January 4, 2010—The Charlottesville office of the International Rescue Committee has received a grant of $10,000 from the Bama Works Fund of Dave Matthews Band in the Charlottesville Area Community Foundation to expand medical and dental health care for refugees in the area.

Due to their experiences fleeing violence and their time surviving outside their homelands with little or no access to health or dental care, refugees can have significant medical and dental needs. IRC in Charlottesville, which opened in 1998, will use the grant to create an emergency fund to cover medical and dental costs for refugees whose health insurance programs do not sufficiently meet their health needs.

The Bama Works award will help pay for long-overdue dental work, glasses, hearing aids, and prosthetics for refugees.  Due to the generosity of the Bama Works Fund of Dave Matthews Band in the Charlottesville Area Community Foundation, IRC is better equipped to meet these basic needs for refugees, ensuring that they can reach the full potential of a healthy, secure life in our community.