Switchboard Blog
Switchboard’s blog posts offer a wide range of insights on the newcomer experience, including practical tips for navigating the resettlement process, resource lists tailored to community needs, case studies about relevant programs, engaging stories of successful integration, and more.
FEATURED BLOG
Find Food Resources for Newcomers in Your City, in Your State, and at the Federal Level
Across the United States, food insecurity is rising, and many low-income families, including refugees, asylees, and other Office of Refugee Resettlement (ORR)-eligible populations, are finding it harder to keep nutritious food on the table. According to the U.S. Department of Agriculture, in 2023, nearly 47 million people, including 7.2 million children, lived in households that…
Refine Search
Over the last 40 years, the U.S. has admitted between 22,000 and 230,000 refugees annually. While refugees and immigrants arrive with rich cultural food traditions, many of which are health-promoting, they can erode over time, resulting in diet-related disease rates similar to those of U.S.-born populations. Structural inequalities, transit limitations, and a lack of affordable,…
- Eugenia Gusev
Many newly arriving refugees and humanitarian parolees are about to experience their first summer in the United States. Depending on where they have settled, they may find themselves in an unfamiliar weather environment with new summer activities available to them. These new environments may include exposure to extreme and prolonged heat, different UV indexes, and…
- NRC-RIM
As the challenges of finding safe, affordable housing for newcomers arriving in the United States have grown during the past few years, so too have the number and variety of housing innovations. Neighbors, friends, faith groups, towns, and cities have come together in inspiring and innovative ways to ideate, plan, fundraise, and create housing for…
- Sophia Martin
It can be difficult for service providers and communities to locate healthcare providers who are trained in refugee and immigrant health best practices. In addition, the U.S. resettlement landscape is changing with the expansion of different categories such as parolees. Finding healthcare providers who understand these varied communities’ unique health needs, who work with interpreters,…
- Switchboard
While there is no one-size-fits-all approach on how to best support mentors of newcomer youth, program coordinators can tailor their management strategies to meet clients’ specific needs and provide strong support to volunteer mentors. Below, Selina Máté describes some of the challenges and common questions that many teams face while building a youth mentorship program…
- Selina Mate
As resettlement service providers, we’re quick to notice when something is working well and when it isn’t. That’s because a key priority is serving clients as smoothly as possible. However, when faced with the challenge of gauging the effectiveness of a program, advocating for funding, or implementing a new intervention, discovering what works best takes…
- Jodie Boisvert