January 25, 2010

NEW YORK CITY – Church World Service refugee program staff and their colleagues in local resettlement agencies across the United States hailed the U.S. government's announcement Friday (Jan. 22) that it has doubled the amount of the per person grant to assist refugees resettling in the United States to $1,800.

The funds help new arrivals pay for such expenses as security deposits/initial rent payments, household furnishings, initial pocket money and other basic necessities, along with local case management to ensure that each refugee gets a fair start in his or her new country.

"Welcome news!" declared CWS Immigration and Refugee Program Director Erol Kekic upon receiving the announcement last Friday from Eric Schwartz, Assistant Secretary for Population, Refugees and Migration in the U.S. State Department.

Church World Service is one of 10 national voluntary agencies plus one state agency entrusted by the U.S. State Department to provide services to help newly arriving refugees move quickly toward becoming self-supporting members of their new communities.

In FY 2009, CWS and its affiliate network resettled 6,428 of total U.S. arrivals of 74,652; CWS expects to receive more than 7,000 refugees in FY 2010,.

"CWS sincerely thanks Assistant Secretary Schwartz and his colleagues at the Admissions Office and the U.S. Congress, for their tireless work to make possible this increase in the public contribution to the U.S. refugee program's public-private partnership," Kekic said.

In a conference call with colleagues from CWS's community-based refugee resettlement affiliates in 21 states shortly after receiving the news, Kekic's report on the state department move was greeted with applause and exclamations of "Wow!"

Today, Aaron Tate, Director of Refugee Services for Interfaith Ministries for Greater Houston, a CWS affiliate, said. "This increase will certainly improve the lives of all refugees. It really takes our ability to provide quality service to a new level. This more than doubling of assistance to clients radically improves the program. On our refugee clients' behalf, and on behalf of the affiliates, I'd like to say thanks to those who worked for this positive change."

Said Kekic, "This good news clearly has boosted the morale of our hard-working local colleagues, who are on the front lines of welcoming newly arriving refugees. I expect that this increase in U.S. government support also will motivate the many congregational co-sponsors and other volunteers, donors, employers and other community members to redouble their support for refugees."

The increase takes effect immediately for all new refugee arrivals, and is retroactive for refugees who arrived from January 1, 2010 to now.

Church World Service