wfn.org | [LCMSNews] LIRS resettled 5,034 refugees in 2002

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	October 3, 2003 .................... LCMSNews -- No. 120

	LIRS resettled 5,034 refugees in 2002

	Lutheran Immigration and Refugee Service (LIRS) resettled 5,034
refugees through its network of 27 affiliates and 17 "suboffices" in
2002, according to the organization's annual report.

	Newly arriving refugees from the former Soviet Union, Sudan,
Liberia, Sierra Leone and Afghanistan were welcomed by LIRS affiliates
and co-sponsoring volunteers, who helped them with housing, community
orientation, health screening and basic adjustment needs such as
acquiring Social Security cards, learning English and finding jobs.

	In addition, 20 affiliates provided matching grants to 3,219
refugees, helping them reach self-sufficiency within months of their
arrival in the United States.

	In 2002 LIRS also provided grants and technical assistance to 30
organizations that provide legal advice and services to people in
immigration detention and other vulnerable immigrants. This asylum and
immigration network served 1,526 children, 905 torture survivors and
14,883 detainees.

	The network also reached 21,536 immigrants through community
information or group-processing sessions.

	In collaboration with seven foster care sites across the
country, LIRS helped 14 refugee children find new homes in 2002, and
continued to provide care for the "lost boys and girls" -- a group of
296 young Sudanese refugees who arrived in 2000-01.

	And, when illness or another crisis strands U.S. citizens
overseas, LIRS subsidiary International Social Service -- USA Branch
steps in to help. Last year the agency reunited 149 Americans from 34
states with their families by arranging emergency medical care,
transportation and evacuation assistance, child protection and welfare
services, legal assistance, housing and financial aid.

	The Baltimore-based LIRS is a cooperative agency of The Lutheran
Church--Missouri Synod, the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America and
the Latvian Evangelical Lutheran Church in America.

	For more information about LIRS, including how to get involved
in resettlement, call (410) 230-2700; lirs@lirs.org . Or, visit the LIRS
Web site at www.lirs.org <http://www.lirs.org>	.

	****************************************

	If you have questions or comments about this LCMSNews release,
contact Joe Isenhower Jr. at joe.isenhower@lcms.org or (314) 996-1231,
or Paula Schlueter Ross at paula.ross@lcms.org or (314) 996-1230.

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