The Refugee Family Enrichment Program provides support to refugee couples
who want to strengthen their family relationships, prevent conflicts
and ease their transitions into American culture. Culture shock and
previous traumatic experiences are stressors that leave refugees at
greater risk of domestic violence, divorce, or serious emotional
crises. Strengthening families and developing social networks amongst
refugee populations can alleviate much of the depression and anxiety
that they may experience upon arriving in the U.S.
Program specialists at HIAS affiliate sites conduct family life education
workshops that teach refugees how to better communicate within their
families, how to resolve conflicts, and how to avoid trauma and family
break-ups. These 8-hour sessions are often held in informal settings,
during retreats, or community events. They are usually taught in the
native language of refugees attending these classes. The local programs
also organize community events and build strong coalitions with other
refugee-serving organizations in their areas.
We use family communication skills and conflict resolution models that are adapted to
meet the cultural needs of different refugee populations.
Family/marriage education is not a counseling service, and is not only
for couples who have troubled marriages; marriage/family education is
for anyone who wants to develop skills that will strengthen their
family and relationships.
For additional information and resources on healthy marriages, visit www.smartmarriages.com.
If
you would like to learn more about the relationship models we use,
please visit www.activerelationships.com; or www.powerof2.org.
Community Building and Coalitions (top)
A main component of this program is working with other community
organizations to reach more refugee populations. The local programs
organize community events and build strong coalitions with other
refugee-serving organizations in their areas. Through these coalitions
and events, we can tailor our program to many different refugee
populations and create outlets for them to meet each other and gain a
greater sense of community.
If you would like your
organization to get involved in this program, please contact your local
HIAS affiliate. We look forward to working with other outstanding
organizations to successfully implement this program.
For more information on the ACF Healthy Marriages Program, visit their website at www.acf.hhs.gov/healthymarriage/
Family Relationship Mentors (top)
The HIAS mentoring program pairs inquiring couples and families with other
refugee couples who have made successful transitions into their new
lives in the U.S. Through this program, refugee couples can meet one
another and have support from people who know firsthand what newly
arrived refugees experience. Mentors are trained in the 12
Conversations marriage mentoring program, developed by Dr. Ed Gray, and
meet with mentees to offer them encouraging stories and advice, as well
as to create a safe space where couples can share the ups and downs of
marriage. These conversations may start out as formal mentoring
relationships, but often grow into strong friendships.
Refugee Family Enrichment Program Sites: (top)
If you would like to attend one of the workshops, meet with a mentor, or
would like your organization to get involved in this program, please
one of the following HIAS affiliate sites that offer the Refugee Family
Enrichment Program.
Atlanta (top)
www.jfcs-atlanta.org
JF&CS
Atlanta strengthens marriages and family relationships within refugee
communities through a network of government, community, and religious
organizations. JF&CS provides healthy marriage education and
training, technical assistance, and pass-through funding to nine
refugee-serving agencies. We work with a very diverse refugee
population, with special trainings in Russian for our Russian-speaking
community. Coalition staff and mentor couples from each agency provide
customized marriage and family strengthening workshops to refugee
couples within their local ethnic communities.
For more
information on the program in Atlanta, please contact Kathy Bruss at
kbruss@jfcs-atlanta.org or Tanya Zeiliger at
tzeiliger@atlanta-jfcs.org. Or, call 770-677-9454.
Chicago (top)
www.jfcschicago.org
The
Russian-Jewish Family Strengthening Project is a new program, built on
our successful Family Life Education model, The Chicago Chuppah
Project. This new program reaches out to the Russian-Jewish community
through collaboration with Russian-speaking Rabbis and their
congregations, the Russian Hillel of Illinois, Russian radio stations
and other organizations. The program offers Workshops to promote skills
to married, engaged or dating couples for healthy relationships, which
draws upon Jewish values and traditions of building a family.
Maya
Gumirov - Coordinator of the Russian/Jewish Family Strengthening
Project, brings to this project knowledge of Russian-Jewish culture,
deep understanding of the refugee experience, and well-developed
relationships with Russian-speaking community and their leaders as well
as years of experience in journalism and public relations.
For more information please contact Maya at:
Jewish Child and Family Services
255 Revere Drive,
Northbrook, IL 60062
847-412-4357
(847) 412-4360 (FAX)
mayagumirov@jfcschicago.org
New York (top)
www.nyana.org
For
information on the Refugee Family Enrichment Program in New York,
contact Tatyana Rapaport at 212-898-4153, or email her at
trapaport@nyana.org
Pittsburgh (top)
www.jfcspgh.org
For
refugees, arriving in a new country is a wonderful opportunity to begin
again. The Healthy Families Program helps refugees with cultural
transitioning by providing educational programs that teach problem
solving, communication, and money management techniques. These
culturally sensitive techniques are starting to reach people from all
over the world, including Burma, Somalia, the former Soviet Union, and
Sudan. Working with several organizations such as Catholic Charities,
South Hills Interfaith Ministries (SHIM), Greater Pittsburgh Literacy
Council (GPLC), and the newly formed Family Center in Prospect Park, we
plan to reach many refugees who are living in the Greater Pittsburgh
area.
For more information on this program, please contact Dawn Zuckerman at dzuckerman@jfcspgh.org, or call her at 412-904-5949.
Rockville, MD (top)
www.jssa.org
Please
contact Ellen Lebedow at elebedow@jssa.org or Marina Kositsyna at
mkositsyna@jssa.org for information on the program in Rockville. You
may also reach Ellen at 301-255-1991 and Marina at 301-255-1994.
San Diego (top)
www.jfssd.org
The
Refugee Family Enrichment Program at Jewish Family Service of San Diego
serves people from Russia, Afghanistan and Somalia. We provide couples,
families and individuals with skills, tools and experiences that make a
successful and healthy life possible. Our goal is to create a stronger,
more powerful self and to engineer the kind of life that is successful,
productive and enjoyable. Our workshops are usually 2-8 sessions, with
a total meeting time of 8 hours. We utilize Kelly Simpson’s (License
Marriage and Family Therapist) Active Communication and Active Money
Personality curricula for our workshops. We have built partnerships
with Russian, Farsi and Somali speaking mentors, and have started using
Dr. Edward A. Gray’s 12 Conversations Marriage Mentoring program.
For
more information on the program in San Diego, please contact Tanya
Livshits at tanyal@jfssd.org, or call her at 858-637-3030.
Springfield, MA (top)
www.jfswm.org
The
goal of the Healthy Marriages Program in Springfield is to lessen the
pressures on refugee families by focusing on the adult couple and
educating them on marriage and family strengthening skills. To meet
this goal the agency developed a three-pronged approach: 1) A
culturally and linguistically appropriate marriage and family
strengthening program, 2) Trained refugee couples who act a mentors,
and 3) Provision of ethnically and linguistically appropriate
skill-based workshops on marital and family strengthening.
The
Healthy Marriages staff includes: Barbara Stoll, the director of the
New American Program; Mohamud Mohamed, the Healthy Marriages
Coordinator and bilingual, bicultural trainer of the ARC materials and
Yasmin Ahmed, a bilingual, bicultural trainer of the Active
Relationships materials.
For information on the program in Springfield, email Barbara Stoll at b.stoll@jfswm.org, or call her at 413-737-2601.
Tucson, AZ (top)
www.jfcstucson.org
For
information on the program in Tucson, please contact Karen Bailey at
karenb@jfcstucson.org or Christine Nzeyimana at
christinen@jfcstucson.org. Or, call 520-795-0300.
Cincinnati (top)
www.jfscinti.org
Please contact Linda Kean at lkean@jfscinti.org or 513-469-1188 for information on the program in Cincinnati.
Columbus, OH (top)
Please contact Nadia Kasvin at nkasvin@ustogether.org or 614-580-1778 for information on the program in Columbus.
Bergen County, NJ (top)
www.jfsbergen.org
For information on the program in Bergen County, contact Yelena Tishchenko at 201-837-9090 or yelenat@jfsbergen.org.
Boston (top)
www.jfcsboston.org
Boston’s
Refugee Family Enrichment Program has two active sites: the Boston area
and North Shore with the center in Lynn. We work mainly with
Russian-speaking refugees. Concurrent with our programs, we are
planning to implement the Train-a-Trainer model in the North Shore area
for our clients from different countries who were granted Political
Asylum status. We are using Kelly Simpson’s Active Relationships
curriculum and are adjusting her program to the cultural and linguistic
needs of the populations we work with.
For more information on the program in Boston, contact Ena Feinberg at 781-693-5558 or efeinberg@jfcsboston.org.
