The IRC in Atlanta is a founding member of the Coalition of Refugee Service Agencies (CRSA), a 20-member coalition of nonprofit organizations serving refugee and immigrant communities in Georgia. Founded in 2011, CRSA’s mission is to engage a broad coalition to highlight the cultural, social, and economic contributions of refugees and immigrants in Georgia. Learn more here.
For the past seven years, CRSA has welcomed over 300 volunteers—including many of you—to the Georgia State Capitol for our annual New Americans Celebration to engage with legislators and share their personal support for keeping Georgia welcoming to refugees and immigrants.
This year, due to the pandemic, we instead hosted a New Americans Celebration Virtual Week of Action—featuring a press conference and panel, four days of calling and emailing elected officials on legislation impacting new Americans, and the launch of CRSA’s 2020 Annual Report.
From February 8 to February 11, you—our New Americans Celebration participants—sent 3,514 emails and made 136 phone calls to your Georgia senators and representatives regarding HR 11, on maximizing Georgia’s global talent; HB 209, on Medicaid expansion; HB 120, on in-state tuition for some DACA recipients; and SB 29, on voting access. Thanks to your advocacy, HR 11—an initiative of CRSA and the Business and Immigration for Georgia (BIG) Partnership—passed unanimously out of the House Small Business Committee!
There are several harmful bills in the legislature at present, particularly regarding voting access—sign up for CRSA Action Alerts here to receive updates as the session continues.
Organizations working on Voting Rights in Georgia include:
The IRC's Dr. Omar Aziz spoke as part of CRSA's New Americans Celebration press conference and panel.
The IRC in Atlanta is incredibly proud that our COVID-19 Testing Program Manager, Dr. Omar Aziz, was recognized at the New Americans Celebration for his leadership in providing more than 14,000 free tests to the Clarkston community. Dr. Aziz spoke as part of the week's press conference and panel alongside Shaista Amani, owner of Amani Catering Company and Community Outreach Worker at Refugee Women’s Network; Jaime Rangel, Georgia State Immigration Associate at FWD.us; and Victorian Huynh, Vice President at Center for Pan Asian Community Services (CPACS). Dr. Aziz's story was also featured in CRSA's Annual Report.
READ: CRSA's 2020 Annual Report
We are also very proud of IRC Youth Futures alumna, Selly Htoo, whose story is also highlighted in CRSA's Annual Report:
In 2014, Selly Htoo and her family left a refugee camp in Thailand for a new life in Georgia. Members of the persecuted Karen ethnic group, the family were selected for resettlement in America through the US Refugee Admissions Program. Soon after she arrived, Selly was enrolled in youth programs provided by CRSA member organizations and would continue to attend throughout her high school journey. In junior and senior year, she participated in afterschool and summer programs focused on college readiness, where she diligently studied for her SAT/ACT tests, worked on college applications, and visited college campuses.
“My father was sick often when we were back in the refugee camp,” Selly shared. “When he was sick and had to go to the hospital, I watched how kind the nurses were and how much they helped everyone, and I knew I wanted to help others in the same way.” In 2020, Selly made it to the Top 10 of her graduating class at Clarkston High School and received the Asian and Pacific Islander Scholarship. She was accepted to Georgia State University and Berry College and decided to attend Georgia State, commencing her studies in Fall 2020 with plans to pursue Nursing. “As a refugee, I understood too well the pain and struggle of not having access to medical attention, and this has shaped my dream to become a nurse so that I can help those who are in similar positions.”
If you'd like to get more involved with the IRC in Atlanta's advocacy work, please contact Communications Coordinator, Fiona Freeman, at Fiona.Freeman [at] Rescue.org.
To learn more about the work of the IRC in Atlanta and for information on how you can get involved with the IRC as a donor or volunteer, please contact Development Manager, Kalie Lasiter, at Kalie.Lasiter [at] Rescue.org or 678-636-8941.
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