On-call Buddy
By Ankita Kamble | Mayukhi Chacham | Samira Cohanmin | Symone Fogg
May 11, 2023
Empower volunteers to better aid the resettlement of refugees in the Chicago area through enhanced support and resources
In theory,
Refugees are supported in the first critical 90 Days. A professional case manager is assigned through a government-funded resettlement agency and helps the refugee navigate essential resettlement milestones.
In Practice,
There is a waitlist for services. US regulations and world crises are dynamic and unpredictable and often the case managers cannot scale quickly enough to meet refugees’ basic needs.
Bridging the Gap,
Refugees Community Connection (RCC) is a grassroots coalition of volunteers with no formal non-profit status, by design. RCC “Welcome Groups” are instructed not to get involved in case manager-assigned tasks. However, when emergencies arise or case managers can’t be reached, welcome groups troubleshoot issues.
Project Details
- Class: Service Systems
- Instructor: Mark Jones
- Project Partner: Refugee Community Connection
