On August 24, the IRC in Atlanta held a high school graduation ceremony to honor 20 hard-working students in our Connect 2 Success (C2S) program—one of the only programs in the U.S. dedicated exclusively to supporting out-of-school refugee youth ages 16 to 24 to pursue their education and career goals.

Several young students enrolled in the IRC in Atlanta’s Dental Assistant program—a successful collaboration between our Career Development and Adult Education teams and partners at Gwinnett Dental Career Academy—were spotlighted by local TV news channel, 11Alive in March!

Each year over half of the refugees resettled by the IRC in San Diego are children; in 2022 18% of new arrivals were under 18 years old. Having reached the US, their futures are brighter than the uncertainty, conflict and violence they left behind but as they enter the American education system, refugee youth face a unique set of barriers to academic success.

The results of the IRC’s research suggest that expansion of socially-minded consumer financing paired with financial education, and other asset-building programs, could help more low-income families achieve financial stability and at the same time reduce the risks the current subprime auto loan market represents to the overall U.S. economy.

The IRC's first IRC gender analysis in Yemen with a programmatic focus revealed the “big picture” gender-related data trends with a focus on health, WASH, food security, multi-purpose cash assistance and NFI distributions, education and protection.

Thanks to a growing partnership with Summit Journeys, monthly outdoor excursions are core to youth engagement at the IRC in Utah, especially for teens working hard to integrate into a new education system and build social connections. The outings offer the chance to try something new while learning essential skills and having fun.

When Mukabera Uwamaria was 15 years old, she fled the Democratic Republic of the Congo. After five months on the run, she arrived at a refugee camp in Rwanda, where she lived for the next 20 years. There, she met her husband, Eugene, and had four children. The oldest of whom is Elysee Ishimwe. Today, the family has a home in Dallas, Texas. Elysee, now an 11 year old attending Sam Tasby Middle School, was recently the recipient of a $1,000 scholarship from his elementary school. He will be awarded the money upon high school education to go towards continuing education.

Sr. Secunda was named a Learning through Play champion by the PlayMatters project in recognition of her leadership and dedication to transforming education through Learning through Play approaches at St. Joseph’s Kyabirukwa Primary School and beyond.

Earlier this year, the IRC in Atlanta’s Adult Education team added new weekly free English classes in Gwinnett County in partnership with OneStop locations. The classes are held at OneStop Norcross and OneStop Buford and both sites have a beginner and intermediate class. Classes are offered every Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday from 10am-12pm and from 6-8pm.