NYNJ Reflects on World Refugee Day

The New American Dream Lab is a pitch competition sponsored by Comcast that engages refugee and new American business owners in workshops and pitch competitions. Three finalists walk away with additional business capital prizes to support their efforts. This year, WOSB Collective won the grand prize with its unique business idea!

We put endless efforts, energy and passion into our services here at the IRC in Atlanta to ensure the process of resettlement and integration is as smooth as possible for our refugee clients. But how do we succeed? One answer is to ask our clients.

The IRC in Atlanta's volunteers are essential members of our community, as their work provides invaluable support to new Georgians seeking to rebuild their lives after surviving conflict and disaster.

Across 2022 and 2023, the IRC in Atlanta’s Immigration and Legal Services team, in partnership with the expert staff at Georgia Asylum & Immigration Network (GAIN) and many generous and dedicated volunteers, hosted 12 pro se legal clinics to assist Afghan humanitarian parolees to apply for asylum and/or Temporary Protected Status (TPS).

August and September are school enrollment season for the IRC in New York Youth team. With schools closed over the summer, there is typically a backlog of students needing to enroll in school for the first time since arriving in the US. This past school enrollment cycle, the IRC in NY’s Youth Programs team enrolled over 40 youth into the public school system. This is double the number of enrollments from last year!