Programs

Please contact us if you are interested in learning more about the following programs and services:

Refugee Women Empowerment Program

The main point in this program is to build evidence on practical strategies that could empower refugee women in the areas of women’s leadership opportunities, economics, social participation, safety, and to foster their role in promoting community cohesion.

 

Sewing Machine Program

 

Academic Improvement Program

The central goal for this program is to strengthen the academic performance and to aid the social adjustment of newly arriving refugee youth. Contrary to what many people may think, refugee parents do support their children to the best of their ability, but cultural, linguistic, and other barriers may prevent them from being more involved in their children’s education in the expected way.

RIA focuses on these 3 points:

  • Help parents understand the USA school system and facilitate communication between the students, their parents and school if necessary.
  • Support high school academic success and prepare them for life’s next step.
  • Support refugees in their teens and early twenties whose education may have been interrupted and have yet to graduate from high school.

 

School Transportation Program

The Refugee and Immigrant Association’s meetings with its community members raised the issue of an urgent need for transportation. To avoid the risk that children would have to walk over 2 miles alone to school, especially regarding the added difficulties surrounding the pandemic and harsh weather conditions, it was agreed upon in these meetings that each family would participate with up to $20 and RIA would organize a fundraiser to procure 2 vans as a solution to this pressing issue. As a result of such fundraising, the RIA was able to purchase the first van. However, the need is still huge and RIA would like to encourage men and women of goodwill to kindly support them in purchasing a second van.

 

Refugee and Immigrant Newspaper

Ever since COVID-19 struck, the uncertainty of where to locate reliable information has been a main concern for the refugee and immigrant community, especially for those who cannot yet speak or read English. To address this, and to continue strengthening this wonderful place we all call home, the Refugee and Immigrant Association (RIA) launched the Refugee and Immigrant News, Iowa’s multilingual and multicultural newspaper. The primary goals for this project are as follows:

  1. First, with an ever-growing ethnic population in Iowa, the RIA has found that there is a need for more longstanding locals to become better acquainted with their newer neighbors as well as for them to become more educated about the vibrant mixture of cultures, religions, and traditions that make the Iowa City area truly special.
  2. Second, the RIA’s periodical will provide easy access to information for non-English-speaking community members. We will provide news and information in languages such as French, Swahili, Arabic, and English so that all members of our community can be aware of the issues, concerns, and events happening around East Central Iowa and the state.
  3. Third, as one of only a few multilingual papers in Iowa focused on refugee and immigrant populations, we believe Refugee and Immigrant News will serve as a bridge between the aforementioned groups of people, providing a new platform for locals of diverse backgrounds and interests to speak to and hear from one another. We plan to invite special guests to publish news, stories, and opinion pieces.

 

Refugee and Immigrant Voice Group

The Refugee and Immigrant Voice Group helps refugee and immigrant youth to discover their own voice through music, public speaking, and leadership development, and receive support through mentor “coaches”. Advocacy is the key point in this program.

Although most refugee and immigrant youth adjust remarkably well, RIA has noted several factors that may complicate adjustment for these youth. RIA has been working on these factors to help refugee and immigrant youth succeed.