COVID-19 continues to shape the lives of refugees living in Salt Lake County, leading to a staff-wide effort to gather and deliver basic necessities to families in need.

The World Bazaar PHX was a chance for refugee and immigrant business owners to not only sell their products, but also to learn.

A Taste of the IRC, our 12th annual fundraising dinner, is a night of celebration, community and welcome featuring cuisines from around the world. Meet a few of the refugee chefs bringing a taste of their home countries to San Diego on September 5th.

Lauren Lehman speaks about her experience volunteering with the IRC as a logistics intern this summer, and about the great responsibility and privilege she feels in setting up apartments for newly arriving refugees and ensuring that they feel safe and welcome in their new homes.

Among the many challenges that 2020 brought to many around the world, the closing of international borders and travel restrictions as a result of the pandemic further limited the already dwindling number of refugees accepted by the Trump Administration. Prior to the pandemic, the Trump Administration had reduced the number of refugees the United States was committed to welcoming. At the onset of the pandemic, the arrivals of refugees to Tallahassee halted altogether, and it wasn’t until the end of 2020 that new families began to arrive across Big Bend communities. This time, the newly arrived families were coming from Latin America. This was a first for the IRC in Tallahassee’s short four-year history, which has historically welcomed families from the Democratic Republic of the Congo and Syria.

When refugees arrive in Phoenix, a new phase of their journey begins as they learn about US systems which enable them to better integrate into their new community.  Building financial independence is a key factor in this successful integration. Over the past decade, the IRC has partnered with Desert Financial Credit Union to increase financial literacy and financial independence for these new Americans.