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.

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Do you work in refugee resettlement and feel unprepared to discuss basic nutrition with newcomers? This blog post is for you! Developed in partnership with Leah’s Pantry, this post offers guidance to help you confidently talk about food and nutrition without being an expert. You will learn ways to support healthy habits in the U.S. […]

Some newcomer populations who identify with Islam adhere to Sharia-compliant finance principles. These principles prohibit interest (riba), late fees, undue speculation, and investments made in certain industries, including tobacco, pork, and alcohol. Sharia-compliant finance emphasizes transparency, ethical investments, and fee-based loans as an alternative to products that carry interest. Unfortunately, bad actors frequently exploit specific […]

In the past few months, Switchboard has received several technical assistance requests from newcomer services staff concerning the same topic: how to talk to community members or potential stakeholders who may oppose the resettlement program and/or immigration in general. If you are looking for ideas about how to navigate these conversations—and make the case that […]

Children from birth through age 5 are developing rapidly, and timely access to high-quality services can have major impacts on their school readiness, development, and family well-being. To increase families’ awareness and trust and reduce barriers to accessing early childhood services, we recommend the following strategies.1  Working Within Your Organization Learn about the early childhood […]

Communicating program data to stakeholders in your community is an important skill that can help to both highlight your program’s success and build impactful partnerships. Going into this process, it is important to understand the concept of a stakeholder as well as which stakeholders are most relevant to your project. Identifying Stakeholders A stakeholder is […]

This blog post explores the importance of helping newcomers familiarize themselves with well-established technologies in the U.S. while also empowering them to participate in and benefit from emerging technologies. Below, we highlight four newcomers who have actively used tools such as voice-controlled technology, GPT chat bots, e-commerce platforms, and gamified instruction. By examining these examples […]