WASHINGTON STATE PROJECTS
Age Group: GRADES 5-12
Geographic Area: STATEWIDE
Assist
refugee Resettlement in Your Community
International Rescue Committee
Did you know that over 5,000 refugees come to Washington State every year, and that Washington has the 4th largest refugee population in the United States? Educate yourselves and the people around you about the refugee resettlement that is occurring in your community. The International Rescue Committee works to orientate, support, and educate refugees in their new home in the United States. Resettling about 500 refugees a year, the IRC has worked with people from 27 countries, representing many languages and cultures. We can all help in the challenge to find housing, schooling, and job training by becoming involved and educated in the issues surrounding refugee resettlement.
Host a refugee assembly at your school! IRC Voices, a speaker’s bureau of refugees and IRC representatives, will come and educate you and your school about refugee resettlement and will bring refugees to your school to talk about their incredible experiences and answer your students’ questions. Take advantage of this remarkable opportunity to hear from people who have lived in refugee camps and in places where your students have only read about.
After learning about and hearing from refugees through compelling presentations, take action yourself! Choose a project that makes a difference in the lives of refugees: (1) arrange a campaign to collect basic household resettlement items that all refugees need, (2) arrange a fundraising campaign for IRC or advertise their work in your school newspaper and on billboards in your hallways, or (3) contact the IRC office to find out about other projects open for school groups. The IRC operates in offices in Seattle and south King County, but supporting people through this project can be done anywhere!
For more information, please contact Megan Anderson, International Rescue Committee, at (206) 623-2105 or by email.
Connects to issues: Conflict, Poverty,
Population, Resource Consumption
Connects to FTF curriculum activities: Seeking Asylum, Take a Step for
Equity, Everyone Does Better When Women Do Better, Worldview Mingle, Who Are
the Nacirema?, When the Chips Are Down, Creating Our Future
When you contact the organization, don’t forget to tell them you learned about the project from Facing the Future! Click on the button below and tell us your name and the project you’ll be doing so we know you’re making a difference.
Email
us to say "I’m Taking Action!"