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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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…
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Many refugee service providers are asking how to best support clients from Afghanistan during this time of crisis. Below are a few tips that may be helpful to program staff and leaders as they seek to care for clients and staff affected by the situation in Afghanistan. Sharing Information Compassionately The current situation in Afghanistan…
- Switchboard
As the COVID-19 pandemic continues to evolve, youth and young adult vaccination rates remain below what is needed to keep our communities safest. Encouraging young adults to get the vaccine and encouraging parents to get it for their eligible children have both become major priorities. Below are tips and resources from the National Resource Center…
- NRC-RIM
Refugee service providers play a critical role in COVID-19 response, supporting refugee and immigrant communities so that they can get accurate, accessible information from trusted sources. To help with that effort, Switchboard is excited to feature blogs from our colleagues at the National Resource Center for Refugees, Immigrants, and Migrants (NRC-RIM). Each blog post will…
- NRC-RIM
With the economic and health crises that came with COVID-19, many service providers were forced to shift priorities with clients. This was the case at Jewish Family Service of Seattle (JFS) of Seattle, where we quickly pivoted to services more focused on emergency needs. To ensure we did not lose sight of our long-term integration…
- Paige Vogel
The Annual Survey of Refugees (ASR) is a scientific study that collects information about how recently resettled refugees are adapting to life in the U.S. It is funded by the U.S. Office of Refugee Resettlement and is being conducted by the Urban Institute and SSRS. ORR has conducted this survey since 1993 to gather information…
- Urban Institute
This post follows an earlier blog, Refugees and Asylees Have the Right to Work: Busting Three Myths about Social Security Delays & Work Authorization. To learn more on this topic, stream the webinar recording Refugees and Asylees Have the Right to Work, hosted in December 2020. Service providers often encounter difficulties when communicating with employers…
- Daniel Wilkinson