IRIS- Integrated Refugee & Immigrant Services

Our mission is to help refugees and other displaced people establish new lives, regain hope, and contribute to the vitality of Connecticut's communities.

Description:
IRIS- Integrated Refugee & Immigrant Services- welcomes refugees from around the world for resettlement within a fifty mile radius of New Haven. A refugee is someone who has fled his or her country of origin because of a well-founded fear of persecution for reasons of race, religion, nationality, membership in a particular social group, or political opinion. Refugees are fully screened, and a small number are invited to resettle in the United States. They are fully documented and eager to work and begin a new life in a safe home.

Resettlement involves finding housing and employment for new arrivals, helping them access medical and social services and introducing them to the complexities of American society. We offer case management, English classes, children's education programs, employment services and an Immigration Clinic. We train volunteers to tutor English, serve as cultural brokers, transport clients to appointments, and help clients find jobs, among other opportunities.
The IRIS program is based upon early self-sufficiency, with most of our families achieving employment and financial independence within six months after arrival. IRIS resettles approximately 100 refugees each year. IRIS also provides some services to asylees and other immigrants. Currently, over half of IRIS’s refugee clients come from Iraq. Others come from Afghanistan, Congo, Cuba, Ethiopia, Iran, Somalia, Sudan, and other countries.

History:
IRIS is a program of the Episcopal Diocese of Connecticut and is the local affiliate of Episcopal Migration Ministries and the Immigration and Refugee Program of Church World Service.

IRIS (formerly Interfaith Refugee Ministry-IRM) welcomed its first family in 1982, and has resettled over 4,000 people since then. IRIS also receives funding from the Connecticut Department of Social Services, private foundations, faith-based and community groups, and individual donors.

Contact people:

Elizabeth Weissberg, Volunteer Coordinator, (phone), (email) Chris George, Executive Director, (phone), (email)

Office fax number: (203) 562-1798

Address:

235 Nicoll Street New Haven, CT 06511 (See a map)

Web Site: http://www.irisct.org

Last updated on September 8, 2009