News from San Jose, CA

In-kind donations help provide a warm and welcoming home to refugees upon their arrival in the U.S. Keep reading to learn about the different items we accept, in new or gently used condition, to meet the material needs of newly arrived refugees.

Community support is key to helping newly arrived refugees thrive. Learn about the different ways - volunteering, donating, and more - you can support the IRC in San Jose here.

IRC Northern California is opening up the Soft Landing Fund to directly support refugee families who have fled Afghanistan, and are resettling in the Northern California region. Funds will be available for families and individuals who are rebuilding their lives in our community.

As the IRC in Northern California observes World Refugee Day on June 20, we are inspired by the resilience and creativity of survivors of conflict and persecution who are making a new home in the U.S. It's a time to remember the 79.5 million people around the world who have been forced to flee their homes while also celebrating the accomplishments of those who are starting their lives anew.

Here are ways that you can get involved!

High rates of unemployment and Covid-19 infection among New American community members has contributed heavily to lack of stable access to adequate amounts of nutritious food . Refugees and immigrants have been some of the hardest hit populations in the country, disproportionately experiencing food and nutritional insecurity due to their high rates of employment in “gig economy” and other job sectors like food, hotel, and health which have been heavily impacted by the pandemic. Help new American communities combat hunger with a gift to IRC's food security programs in the U.S.

Join the IRC on June 22 for a virtual World Refugee Day Legislative Summit hosted by the International Rescue Committee in partnership with the Refugee Advocacy Lab.

After 835 days without the resettlement program at the IRC in San Jose, the office's leadership team received word last month that the location had gotten approval to re-open its resettlement program, effective immediately.

Two retired Stanislaus County residents have helped make refugees’ houses and apartments into homes throughout the COVID-19 pandemic, delivering furniture and other needed items to newly arrived families.   

In addition to health concerns during the start of the COVID-19 pandemic, many families faced dual concerns about dwindling food supplies. For those who came to the Bay Area as refugees and asylees, it was an unwarranted second wave of crisis to handle after the saga of arriving in the U.S.

While U.S. citizens have a right to a government-appointed attorney when they are accused of crimes, that’s not the case for immigrants at risk of deportation, even if they were charged with minor traffic offenses. IRC seeks to change the status quo in the Central Valley and Central Coast regions through the newly launched California Legal Fellowship program.