As the child of former refugees, who left the Soviet Union along with hundreds of thousands of others in the 1980s, Dax (‘Dan-Knee’) whose pronouns are they/them, has always felt connected to immigrant communities growing up in Philadelphia. Years later, they are now working at the IRC -- one of the largest resettlement agencies in the country -- as a Refugee Cash Assistance (RCA) Coordinator.

The family are now rebuilding their lives in Salt Lake City, Utah.

Ethiopian refugee Tefere Gebre was just 15 years old when he arrived in the United States—starting over in a new world alone, without any family by his side. Over 30 years later, he is executive vice president of the AFL-CIO, the largest labor union in the world.

On February 4, the IRC in Tallahassee’s staff, refugee clients and volunteers joined fellow advocates from the Florida Immigrant Coalition and We Are All America at the Florida State Capitol for the state’s first ever Refugee Advocacy Day.

Having been laid off in the last recession, Ian Murphy knows the struggles of this tumultuous time, and has taken action for his IRC clients. With refugees and immigrants across the Bay Area struggling to find job opportunities, Murphy, an ESL instructor has launched a new class on Zoom to engage creativity.

Throughout 2020, communities across Florida came together to ensure they remained welcoming to refugees, survivors of human trafficking and immigrant youth. Last year tested our communities in unprecedented ways. Despite these challenges, together we walked alongside our clients, learned from and supported one another as we navigated these times with resilience and grace. We now look forward with a renewed sense of hope and an understanding of the obstacles ahead.

As another caravan of Central American survivors of violence and abuse makes its way to the United States border, here’s what you need to know about the situation.  

Ahead of a Senate hearing on appropriations for the State Department and the US Agency for International Development, the IRC submitted testimony to urge Congress to increase funding for programs that provide overseas and emergency refugee assistance, basic education, malnutrition relief, services for vulnerable children, and programs to counter gender-based violence. The IRC also asked Congress to work to improve the effectiveness, transparency, and accountability of humanitarian financing and to allocate 20,000 additional Special Immigrant Visas for U.S.-affiliated Afghans in FY22.

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.