Los Angeles, CA

Refugees are people fleeing violence and persecution—in Syria, Iran, Iraq, Afghanistan, Ukraine, and other countries in crisis. They have crossed an international border and are seeking safety and the chance to move their lives forward.

The U.S. has a long tradition of sheltering those fleeing conflict and persecution. Once refugees have been identified by the United Nations refugee agency and cleared for resettlement, the U.S. government works with the IRC and eight other national resettlement agencies to help them restart their lives in America. Out of the nearly 30 million refugees in the world, fewer than one percent are considered for resettlement worldwide.

Refugees may be placed in a city where they have relatives or friends, or where there’s an established community that shares their language or culture. Other considerations include the cost of living and a community’s ability to provide medical services. But as legal U.S. residents, refugees may live in any city and state they chose.

Learn more about how refugee resettlement works.

As refugees arrive in Los Angeles to start a new life, they are most in need of financial and vocational support. The primary desire of newly-arrived refugees is to gain the ability to provide for themselves and their families as they establish themselves in California. Immediate needs include finding affordable housing, a job, learning English and learning to navigate the local environment. For families, those needs can also include helping their children adjust to a new school. 

Our programs are designed to ensure refugees thrive in America—whether ensuring children are enrolled in school, adults become self-reliant through employment or starting businesses, or families receive the medical care they need to recover from trauma or illness. The IRC helps those in need to rebuild their lives and regain control of their future in their new home community. 

Refugees are greeted and welcomed at the airport by IRC case workers and volunteers to ensure their transition is as comfortable as possible. The IRC also makes sure newly arrived refugees receive: 

• Help with rent 
• Help furnishing a home 
• Health care 
• Nutritious, affordable food 
• English language classes 
• Help building job, computer, and financial literacy skills 
• Education for their children 
• Social services and community support 
• Legal services towards residency and citizenship 

Our programs in Los Angeles include Reception and Placement, Integration, Immigration, and Community Engagement.  

• Program of Initial Resettlement (PIR): The PIR team provides resettlement services to refugees placed with the IRC under the US Refugee Admissions Program. Services include coordinating pre-arrival logistics, picking families up from the airport, securing short and long-term housing, financial assistance, applying for SSN, enrolling adults in public benefits, health insurance, ESL classes, and enrolling children in school. 
• Health Services: The health program connects clients to Medi-Cal, helps establish a medical home and coordinates access to physical and mental health providers.  Health Services staff host trauma-informed mental health resiliency workshops in all ten core languages to help clients process the emotional toll of forced migration.  Some of the workshops include art therapy, stress-relief yoga, Chai and Chat (workshops where women can discuss culturally taboo health concerns with licensed professionals in a relaxed environment) and conflict resolution.  
• Intensive Case Management: For clients facing long-term or complex challenges — such as chronic health conditions or ongoing mental health needs — IRC-LA provides extended case management services beyond the typical 90-day resettlement period. 
• Immigration Services: IRC-LA offers a wide array of no-cost legal services, including green card applications, naturalization, family reunification, U and T visa applications and refugee travel documents.  A unique partnership with the Los Angeles Public Library — among other library systems — enables IRC-LA to bring services directly to clients at their local library branches.   
• Youth Mentoring (YM): The program goal is to engage and connect ORR eligible youth and families with available resources, providing the support they need to succeed academically and socially while integrating into their communities.  Services include education and learning — academic support, college tours, essay writing, career and employment — résumé building, interview preparedness, social and recreational field trips, group activities and events, wellness and self-care — mental health support and hygiene workshops — family support/resources, leadership and identity building. 
• Economic Empowerment:  IRC-LA conducts economic empowerment programs to help clients achieve greater self-sufficiency and confidence navigating the financial system of the United States.  These programs broadly fall into four categories: workforce development, financial capability, microenterprise and consumer lending through IRC’s Center for Economic Opportunity.  IRC-LA’s flagship financial counseling program provides clients with access to eight weeks of one-on-one counseling on topics that include budgeting, banking, credit, taxes, employee benefits, car purchase, insurance, retirement, tenants’ rights, higher education and investing.  Clients make strides in pursuit of their personal financial goals and gain a broad understanding of the financial system of the United States.  
• Citizenship, English as a Second Language (ESL), Vocational English as a Second Language (VESL):  IRC-LA conducts services through the Los Angeles Public Library's New Americans Initiative, which provides free citizenship classes, legal support, and civic education more than eight local library branches.  The partnership with the library provides IRC-LA a better opportunity to reach immigrant families within their communities.  

Our Immigration department provides low cost assistance in applying for Legal Permanent Resident cards, U.S. Citizenship, Refugee Travel documents, DACA renewal, and Central American Minor- Affidavits of Relationships (CAM-AOR), as well as various other immigration documents. Our Integration department provides Financial Coaching, Micro-loans, and an Afghan Youth Mentorship program. They also provide weekly ESL classes and Citizenship classes, remote and in-person (at the IRC office and in public libraries), available free of charge to immigrants throughout the area. 

There are many ways that you can get involved with the IRC’s work in Los Angeles. You can:

Donate: Give a tax-deductible financial contribution either via the website or sent to our office. If you are interested in donating items, please contact volunteer.la@rescue.org 

Wish-list: Help provide a warm welcome by donating urgently needed Household Goods, School Supplies, and Hygiene Items for newly arrived refugees from our Amazon Wishlist. Urgently needed items include bedding, pots and pans, and gift cards. We also have plenty of Welcome Kit ideas, which are a great way to get involved as a group, office, faith group, or classroom. If you are interested in putting together a Welcome Kit drive, please email volunteer.la@rescue.org.

Volunteer Opportunities: Read the steps you need to go through to become an IRC volunteer and see our current list of volunteer opportunities here.

Internship Opportunities: Internships are a great way for students to gain experience in the field of refugee resettlement and immigration. See our current list of internship opportunities here. 

Employing Refugees: Looking for dedicated, skilled, & diverse employees? We connect businesses with refugee talent. If you’d like to partner with us to provide employment for refugees, please contact IRC-LA’s CA Workforce Literacy Program Specialist: Liliana Perez, Liliana.Perez@Rescue.org.

Housing: One of the greatest challenges to resettling refugees is securing affordable housing. If you are a landlord, or know anyone who is, consider renting to a recently arrived refugee.

Spread the Word: Consider hosting your own Fundraising Campaign (on- or offline). Stay connected by following us on Instagram, Facebook, Linkedin, and ask others to do the same!

Once they acclimate to their new environment, refugees often thrive and contribute to their communities, building careers, purchasing homes and becoming citizens.