News from Oakland, CA

Be a force for change in the Bay Area.

Join us in Oakland, Sacramento, San Jose and Turlock to celebrate World Refugee Day in the month of June. Celebrations span from June 15 - June 28th, 2018 and all events are FREE! Read on to find the location nearest you!

After years of upheaval and uncertainty, refugee & immigrant girls in the United States are ready to explore their path in life. Vision Not Victim supports these young women to envision their future and redefine what their communities and they themselves thought possible. Run by the IRC previously in the Democratic Republic of the Congo and Jordan, the IRC in Northern California piloted the program in the United States over April's spring break in Oakland.

Support local refugee resettlement by hosting your own fundraiser.

Soryi Am, former refugee from Cambodia, was the graphic designer behind materials for the new Soft Landing Fund. Learn about her story and how you can support refugees in the Bay Area with the cost of housing.

David Miliband stopped by the Oakland office on Monday, August 9th, to provide an update to Northern California staff members and to learn more about the innovative programming being developed in the Northern California region.

The second installment of the Vision Project welcomed 11 girls in from five countries (Afghanistan, El Salvador, Eritrea, Guatemala, Yemen) who spoke four different languages (Dari, Spanish, Tigrinya, Arabic). They ranged in age from 13 to 20 years old. Read on to learn about their experience

The IRC in Oakland's HOME program helps families with a housing subsidy, welcome home setup, and mentorship. The Jebran family from Afghanistan reflects on their past six months in the U.S. with the help of their HOME team and their hopes for the future.

It was October 16, and there were over 280 people filling into SOMArts gallery in downtown San Francisco. This was GenR’s Force for Change event, where there was an outdoor bar with a DJ, and a huge gallery space full of tables of cookies and kabobs from Afghanistan, salads from Burma, and sweets from Syria. In a black box room off to the side of the gallery, there were huge photographs, propped up on easels, of refugees girls ages 8 through 11 embodying what they want to be when they grow up. The girls, who live all around the Bay Area, were posing as doctors, lawyers, and rock stars, in culmination of an empowerment workshop called The Vision Project, which was formed in collaboration with IRC. Guests milled around, observing, eating, enjoying themselves, and then they were gathered around a stage in the main gallery.  This was where the speech was going to take place.

How many people do you know with three names?  Probably none. Well, now you do…