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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Challenging Community Conversations: Three Tips to Build Understanding and Support
Across the resettlement network, staff and partners are noticing an uptick in community questions about newcomers. Many people want clarity about who is arriving and how local services support them. These questions usually stem from uncertainty or limited information. When people have few opportunities to interact with newcomers or understand how resettlement works, conversations can…
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With Women’s Health Month in May and Men’s Health Month in June, now is a great time to share parenthood resources from the National Resource Center for Refugees, Immigrants, and Migrants (NRC-RIM). Debunking myths—including those related to fertility, pregnancy, and parenthood—and encouraging vaccinations and booster shots are key to protecting RIM communities from severe illness…
- NRC-RIM
Are you working to design a new project or refine the design of an existing program? Switchboard’s Resource Library hosts a variety of project design resources to help guide you through the process. Strong project design starts with sound logic. Theories of change and logical frameworks (logframes) can both be considered types of logic models. A…
- Switchboard
Monitoring and evaluation (M&E) is key to strong program design and delivery, both so service providers can track and improve their work and so funders can receive needed reports. But due to capacity issues, financial and time constraints, or the absence of clear processes, there are many reasons why M&E may sometimes be sidelined, infrequently…
- Farah El Hassan
Photo Credit: IRC/KRyan Ramadan Mubarak! Muslims observing the Holy Month—beginning the evening of April 1 and ending the evening of May 1—are eager to spend their nights breaking fast, reciting the Quran, praying nightly in congregation (for “taraweeh” and “qiyam al lail”), and connecting to their spirituality. Another facet of this special time for the…
- NRC-RIM
This blog post includes contributions from Eugenia Gusev, Technical Advisor for Food Security and Agriculture, IRC; Gul Hussain Shinwari, Sr. Program Officer, Afghan Placement & Assistance, IRC; members of IRC’s Food Security Working Group; and Farid Saydee, Independent Consultant, Language Mentors International. During the holy month of Ramadan, many Muslims fast, or refrain from eating…
- Switchboard
Services for New Arrivals The U.S. Department of Labor provides services to help new arrivals access meaningful training and employment opportunities. At the State level, workforce agencies are gearing up their staff to develop working groups with local workforce development agencies (LWDAs) that serve refugees, asylees, Special Immigrant Visa (SIV) holders, Afghan Humanitarian Parolees (AHPs),…
- Kim Vitelli