Refugee Resettlement Program – Oregon

Reception and Placement – Case Management Services – Intensive Case Management – Refugee School Enrollment – How to Help – Holiday Program  

Refugees are victims of persecution who flee their homelands in search of hope, justice and a safe place to raise their families. Most refugees suffer unthinkable tragedy and arrive here with next to nothing. We offer them healing and hope.

For over 40 years, our Multicultural Community Services (MCS) have partnered with communities throughout the Northwest to help more than 40,000 refugees feel at home. We help refugees secure homes and jobs, learn English, navigate educational and public systems, and build fulfilling connections. Refugees built America, and we honor and help them continue that tradition.

Reception and Placement covers the period when a refugee family first arrives here. MCS contracts with the U.S State Department to help refugees start rebuilding their lives during their first 90 days in the U.S.

 

Our work starts before we arrive. We secure housing, furnishings and food. Our case managers meet refugee families at the airport and are their first contact here.

 

After arrival, we connect refugees to the social services that build self-sufficiency. These include medical screening, employment programs, job coaching, ESL classes, registering children in school and temporary cash assistance. We bring them community support that is vital to helping refugees in their journey toward self-sufficiency and feeling at home.

 

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Oregon Refugee Case Services: We partner with the State of Oregon to supplement the 90 days of R&P and provide support for up to 8 months after refugees arrive. Services include:

 

• Cash assistance for up to eight months after arrival
  

 

• Case management services such as: obtaining a Social Security card and Department of Motor Vehicle (DMV) identification; opening a bank account; paying rent and utility bills, enrolling children in school and referring them for a health screening, and assistance with other emergent needs.
  

 

• Orientation sessions that address budgeting, housing, healthcare and family law in the United States.
  

 

• Employment and English as a Second Language services

 

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There are many heartwarming and rewarding opportunities to support refugee families as they settle in to their new homes and become contributing members of the community.  

 

Volunteer Opportunities Include:

• Co-sponsorship:  A group from either a church or an organization that acts as the “welcoming committee” for a new refugee family.  Co-sponsors help prepare for the family’s arrival by setting up the apartment, providing transportation for important appointments during the first 30 days, shopping and providing general companionship and support.

 

• Providing Transportation:  Help a new refugee family get to their appointments and learn their way around Portland. Or help them learn to use public transportation.

 

• Family Mentorship:  Ease a refugee family’s transition to their new lives in the Portland area.  The family mentor role is multi-faceted and always evolving as the families served come from such different backgrounds and circumstances.  Both refugee families and mentors learn and grow from this very rewarding relationship.

 

• Financial Donations: Cash assistance helps refugees get started here. Please visit our online donation page. Under the gift designation section of this page, please specify that you want your donation to go to the Portland office.

 

• Amazon Wish List purchases: You can buy high-needs items to help refugees get settled. Please visit our Portland Amazon Wish List.

 

• Furniture donations: If you have items or furniture to donate, please let us know! Send an email to Natasha Pavlovets at [email protected].

 

For more information, please contact us at 503-731-9590.

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