Program areas at Rochester Refugee Resettlement Services
Housing: Provided housing for approximately 450 refugees from Somalia, Congo, DR, Burundi, Myanmar, Nepal, Ethiopia, Eritrea, Liberia, Cameroon, South Sudan, Sudan, Jordan and Syria.
Asylum Program; based upon our ongoing experience with asylum seekers, RRRS is developing a program model to enable asylum seekers to determine and develop their best approach for presenting their case for asylum. This model includes using an accelerated approach to gain the right to work as quickly as possible and enable asylum seekers to qualify for jobs and attain self-sufficiency.
Mental Health. RRRS has established a mental health team consisting of RRRS staff with social work and mental health professionals as consultants, to address the ongoing challenges faced by our clients from trauma experienced in their home country and adjusting to a new life in America. This process consists of initial mental health evaluations through home visits, then team discussions on how best to manage the challenge faced by the client, be it direct assistance or referral to an appropriate agency or provider.
English language learning at the workplace. RRRS has partnered with the Teaching English as a Second Language (TESL) program of the Warner School of the University of Rochester to teach English to refugees at their workplace. So far the program has been started at 3 worksites teaching English to more than 50 refugee employees.