wfn.org | CWS opens two new refugee resettlement offices in North Carolina

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> Church World Service
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> FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
> Church World Service
> 475 Riverside Drive
> New York, NY 10027
> (212) 870-2676

CWS opens two new refugee resettlement offices in North Carolina

NEW YORK, Feb. 17, 2009--Support for refugees living in
Raleigh-Durham-Chapel Hill and Greensboro, North Carolina, is being
strengthened with the opening of two new Church World Service (CWS)
resettlement offices.

The new offices will work closely with CWSâ??s national resettlement
program and with North Carolina faith communities to welcome refugee
newcomers ­ who, by definition, have fled persecution in their  home
countries ­ and help them achieve self-sufficiency even in these
difficult economic times.

CWS is one of nine national voluntary agencies that work with the
federal government and a nationwide network of local agencies to
resettle refugees across the United States.  The U.S. Refugee Admissions
Program considers many factors when choosing resettlement venues,
including economic and social climates.

â??North Carolina is a good, welcoming place to resettle refugees,â ??
said Erol Kekic, CWS Immigration and Refugee Program Director, New York.

â??There is a good mix of urban, suburban and small town; a  diversity
of employment; good schools and universities, and a population friendly
to refugees.â??

Raleigh-Durham and Greensboro are not new refugee resettlement venues
for CWS.  The agency has resettled refugees to North Carolina since at
least the 1980s, at first on its own and then through LFSC, which will
continue to resettle refugees for the Lutheran Immigration and Refugee
Service (LIRS).

On February 1, CWS opened its new office in Durham, which will conduct
resettlement activities and provide support to refugees in the
Raleigh-Durham-Chapel Hill area.  CWS expects to open its refugee
resettlement sub-office in Greensboro in March.

Together, the two new offices expect to welcome their first new
arrivals in May, perhaps sooner, with as many as 175 new refugee
arrivals by September 30, the last day of Fiscal Year 2009, and to build
other programs of support for refugees during their first five years in
the United States.

CWS has selected Mary St. John to direct its resettlement work in North
Carolina.  She was with Lutheran Family Services in the Carolinas (LFSC)
for more than six years, serving refugees as an ESL teacher, case
management supervisor, Raleigh sub-office director and, for the past two
years, affiliate director.

St. John is a computer scientist and economist by training, with many
yearsâ?? work experience in Africa and Asia, where she provided
technical assistance to government ministries of health and education.
She served in the Peace Corps in rural Morocco, and speaks French and
some Persian.  She has a B.A. from Hamline University and an M.S. from
the University of Minnesota.

â??I am delighted to be working directly with CWS colleagues, all
people who are passionate about refugees, not only about resettlement in
this country but also about the plight of refugees around the world,â? ?
St. John said.

St. John will be joined on February 17 by Sponsorship Developer Dan
Woodliff and in March by a case manager.

Woodliff brings his experience as a volunteer manager for Habitat for
Humanity and as a refugee employment developer with LFSC.  For CWS,
Woodliff will enlist churches and other faith communities as refugee
cosponsors.

Church World Service encourages congregational involvement with
refugees, finding that those with cosponsors acculturate and reach
self-sufficiency faster than those who donâ??t.  Typically the
cosponsoring congregation provides new arrivals with cultural and
community orientation, emotional support and such practical assistance
as readying an apartment, airport pickup, transportation to appointments
and job interviews, school enrollment and English training.

The new CWS resettlement office in Durham is co-located with the CWS
Carolinas Regional

Office, one of 21 such offices charged with

mobilizing community support for CWS, whose work includes not only
refugee assistance but also disaster relief and sustainable self-help
and development around the world.  Since it was founded in 1946, CWS has
channeled more than $1 billion in resources to more than 80 countries.

â??I am really excited that CWS will be serving refugee clients right
in our offices,â?? said Joe Moran, who directs the CWS Carolinas
Regional Office.

â??Thereâ??s not a story we tell about the work of Church World  Service
in which refugees arenâ??t involved,â?? Moran commented.   â??Having
another aspect of our work here and learning about it first-hand enables
us to better interpret it to the public.â??

While at LFSC, St. John and her colleagues built solid relationships
with local faith communities.  Now the synergy between the CWS
resettlement and regional offices will enable her to extend her reach
even further, she said.

â??The Carolinas CWS/CROP Office has been here for a long time, I  think
about 25 years,â?? she said, â??and Joeâ??s been there all  that time
with great, great connections throughout the community, so itâ??s  going
to be fantastic.â??

A first step: Moran arranged for St. John to talk about refugee
resettlement at the April meeting of Durham Congregations in Action, an
interfaith association of 58 Jewish, Christian, Muslim, Bahaâ??i and
Unitarian congregations.

Media Contacts

Lesley Crosson, (212) 870-2676, media@churchworldservice.org
Jan Dragin - 24/7 - (781) 925-1526, jdragin@gis.net

NEW YORK, Feb. 17, 2009--Support for refugees living in
Raleigh-Durham-Chapel Hill and Greensboro, North Carolina, is being
strengthened with the opening of two new Church World Service (CWS)
resettlement offices.

The new offices will work closely with CWS's national resettlement
program and with North Carolina faith communities to welcome refugee
newcomers ­ who, by definition, have fled persecution in their  home
countries ­ and help them achieve self-sufficiency even in these
difficult economic times.

CWS is one of nine national voluntary agencies that work with the
federal government and a nationwide network of local agencies to
resettle refugees across the United States.  The U.S. Refugee Admissions
Program considers many factors when choosing resettlement venues,
including economic and social climates.

'North Carolina is a good, welcoming place to resettle refugees,'
said Erol Kekic, CWS Immigration and Refugee Program Director, New York.

'There is a good mix of urban, suburban and small town; a diversity
of employment; good schools and universities, and a population friendly
to refugees.'

Raleigh-Durham and Greensboro are not new refugee resettlement venues
for CWS.  The agency has resettled refugees to North Carolina since at
least the 1980s, at first on its own and then through LFSC, which will
continue to resettle refugees for the Lutheran Immigration and Refugee
Service (LIRS).

On February 1, CWS opened its new office in Durham, which will conduct
resettlement activities and provide support to refugees in the
Raleigh-Durham-Chapel Hill area.  CWS expects to open its refugee
resettlement sub-office in Greensboro in March.

Together, the two new offices expect to welcome their first new
arrivals in May, perhaps sooner, with as many as 175 new refugee
arrivals by September 30, the last day of Fiscal Year 2009, and to build
other programs of support for refugees during their first five years in
the United States.

CWS has selected Mary St. John to direct its resettlement work in North
Carolina.  She was with Lutheran Family Services in the Carolinas (LFSC)
for more than six years, serving refugees as an ESL teacher, case
management supervisor, Raleigh sub-office director and, for the past two
years, affiliate director.

St. John is a computer scientist and economist by training, with many
years' work experience in Africa and Asia, where she provided
technical assistance to government ministries of health and education.
She served in the Peace Corps in rural Morocco, and speaks French and
some Persian.  She has a B.A. from Hamline University and an M.S. from
the University of Minnesota.

'I am delighted to be working directly with CWS colleagues, all
people who are passionate about refugees, not only about resettlement in
this country but also about the plight of refugees around the world,'
St. John said.

St. John will be joined on February 17 by Sponsorship Developer Dan
Woodliff and in March by a case manager.

Woodliff brings his experience as a volunteer manager for Habitat for
Humanity and as a refugee employment developer with LFSC.  For CWS,
Woodliff will enlist churches and other faith communities as refugee
cosponsors.

Church World Service encourages congregational involvement with
refugees, finding that those with cosponsors acculturate and reach
self-sufficiency faster than those who donâ??t.  Typically the
cosponsoring congregation provides new arrivals with cultural and
community orientation, emotional support and such practical assistance
as readying an apartment, airport pickup, transportation to appointments
and job interviews, school enrollment and English training.

The new CWS resettlement office in Durham is co-located with the CWS
Carolinas Regional  Office, one of 21 such offices charged with
mobilizing community support for CWS, whose work includes not only
refugee assistance but also disaster relief and sustainable self-help
and development around the world.  Since it was founded in 1946, CWS has
channeled more than $1 billion in resources to more than 80 countries.

'I am really excited that CWS will be serving refugee clients right
in our offices,' said Joe Moran, who directs the CWS Carolinas
Regional Office.

'There's not a story we tell about the work of Church World Service
in which refugees aren't involved,' Moran commented.  'Having
another aspect of our work here and learning about it first-hand enables
us to better interpret it to the public.'

While at LFSC, St. John and her colleagues built solid relationships
with local faith communities.  Now the synergy between the CWS
resettlement and regional offices will enable her to extend her reach
even further, she said.

'The Carolinas CWS/CROP Office has been here for a long time, I think
about 25 years,' she said, 'and Joe's been there all that time
with great, great connections throughout the community, so it's going
to be fantastic.'

A first step: Moran arranged for St. John to talk about refugee
resettlement at the April meeting of Durham Congregations in Action, an
interfaith association of 58 Jewish, Christian, Muslim, Bahaâ'i and
Unitarian congregations.

Media Contacts

Lesley Crosson, (212) 870-2676, media@churchworldservice.org
Jan Dragin - 24/7 - (781) 925-1526, jdragin@gis.net