News from Atlanta, GA

Since opening our doors in 1979—together with Georgians from all walks of life—the IRC in Atlanta has welcomed more than 27,000 refugees from 67 countries to rebuild their lives in communities across the state. Thank you sincerely for standing with us and the people we serve over the past four decades. 10 ways to take action today:

Ahmed first fled his home country of Somalia as a teenager when political insurgents began to indiscriminately target civilians. Separated from his family, Ahmed arrived in Georgia alone at 22-years-old and initially struggled to find community.

As part of the IRC’s national Refugee Voices initiative, the IRC in Atlanta partnered with local Refugee Voice and IRC Youth Futures program alum, Nuam San, to plan and host an Open Mic night on the 4th of July, in partnership with Mayor Ted Terry and the City of Clarkston.

The IRC in Atlanta is honored to be one of the nonprofits featured at Candler Park Fall Fest for a second year in a row! Be sure to visit our tent on October 5 and 6 to learn more about refugee resettlement in Georgia and how you can get involved with our work.

Thanks to your generous donations—and support from a variety of community partners—the IRC in Atlanta’s 3rd annual “Ready, Set, College!” summer camp was able to provide eight weeks of SAT tutoring, college readiness workshops and action-packed field trips to 23 local high school students, preparing them to gain admission to college and succeed in higher education and beyond!

Forced to flee his home in the Democratic Republic of Congo due to ongoing conflict and violence, Patrick lived as a refugee in Uganda for 10 years. While there, he worked in construction and as a salesman but it was difficult to make ends meet.

Originally from Jordan, Lina came to the US through the refugee resettlement program in the spring of 2013, along with her husband Omar and their two children.

Nuli was just 12 years old when she first arrived in the United States with her father. Forced to flee their native Myanmar due to persecution as members of the Burmese Chin ethnic group, they were given the opportunity to rebuild their lives in safety through the US refugee resettlement program and were welcomed by the IRC in Atlanta in 2010.

With the help of partner nonprofits—Decatur Makers and House of SpeakEasy—students attending the IRC in Atlanta’s “Ready, Set, College!” summer camp were able to build a “Little Free Library” for the Clarkston High School New Roots Garden.

Originally from Chin State, Burma, Van Lal fled his homeland in 2008, travelling by train and truck through Thailand for 11 days to reach Malaysia.