Refugee Resettlement Program - Volunteer Opportunities

FAMILY FRIENDS

Individuals are asked to spend time with a refugee (or an entire refugee family) to help him/her acclimate to the Erie area and to be a "family friend". This commitment is to be physically available to the refugee and/or family on a weekly or bi-weekly basis; to be a friend; to keep CCCAS informed of any concerns/problems.

If you are looking for an opportunity to personally meet and hear the story of what it is like to be a refugee in today's world, and you are willing to give a little of yourself in return, please consider becoming a FAMILY FRIEND

ESL -- ENGLISH AS A SECOND LANGUAGE

Many of our refugees arrive in Erie with limited ability to speak or write the English language. Many of our newly arriving refugees are able to speak the language but could use additional practice. There are also those who arrive with little to no English-speaking abilities. These refugees need regular repetition work on rudimentary aspects of the English language. If you are someone who would enjoy helping our refugees learn or grow in their ability to speak our language, we could use you! Please contact us for more information.

TRANSPORTATION VOLUNTEERS

Our newly arrived refugees have many appointments during their first three months in the country. While they do have access to public transportation, it is nice to receive a ride from someone you know. If you enjoy driving and would like to find a less intensive way of interacting with our refugee population, perhaps you could volunteer to drive someone to medical appointments, school meetings, etc... Give us a call to discuss this important, and needed, aspect of our Refugee Resettlement program!

FURNITURE PICK-UP / DELIVERY

Our agency is responsible for finding and furnishing a new apartment for our newly arriving refugees. Because of the recent concern over bed bugs we provide clean bedding. However, we are often in need of large furniture donations (couches, living room chairs, kitchen tables and chairs, etc...). If you have any furniture that you think might be helpful in a new refugee's apartment, give us a call and we can let you know if we could use your donation.

In addition to the donation of furniture, we are always looking for help in picking up and delivering our furniture donations to either a refugee's apartment or to our warehouse storage space. If you enjoy physical labor and would like to assist our Refugee Resettlement program in a more "hands on" way, call us to find out more about this volunteer opportunity.

EDUCATIONAL MENTORS

Because of the language limitations, and because of the many different lifestyle changes that they encounter when first resettling here, our refugee children sometimes have difficulty in school. Our agency tries to offer the children an educational mentor to work on specific subject concerns or to work on overall educational issues. If you have an interest in this type of volunteer work please give us a call to find out more about this.

For more information on how you can volunteer your time and talents, or to donate material goods:

Please Contact:

Deacon John Brophy jbrophy@cccas.org
POWR (Parishes Organized to Work with Refugees)
(814) 456-2091

Lisa Ripper lripper@cccas.org
AmeriCorps VISTA Volunteer
(814) 456-2091