Welcoming Refugees: An Online Guide to Volunteer Opportunities for the Peace Corps Community

According to the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) as of May 2024, more than 120 million people were forcibly displaced worldwide as a result of persecution, conflict, violence or human rights violations. This includes:

• 43.4 million refugees
• 63.3 million internally displaced people
• 6.9 million asylum seekers
• 5.8 million people in need of international protection, a majority from Venezuela

Who is a refugee?

A refugee is someone who has been forced to flee his or her country because of persecution, war, or violence. A refugee has a well-founded fear of persecution for reasons of race, religion, nationality, political opinion, or membership in a particular social group. Most likely, they cannot return home or are afraid to do so. War and ethnic, tribal, and religious violence are leading causes of refugees fleeing their countries. Seventy-three percent of all refugees and other people in need of international protection come from just five countries: Afghanistan, Syria, Venezuela, Ukraine, and Sudan.

Who is an internally displaced person?

An internally displaced person, or IDP, is someone who has been forced to flee their home but never cross an international border. These individuals seek safety anywhere they can find it—in nearby towns, schools, settlements, internal camps, even forests and fields. IDPs, which include people displaced by internal strife and natural disasters, are the largest group that UNHCR assists. Unlike refugees, IDPs are not protected by international law or eligible to receive many types of aid because they are legally under the protection of their own government.

During 2023, the most significant changes in internal displacement occurred in Sudan, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Myanmar, Somalia, Syria, and Ukraine.

 Who is a stateless person?

A stateless person is someone who is not a citizen of any country. Citizenship is the legal bond between a government and an individual, and allows for certain political, economic, social, and other rights of the individual, as well as the responsibilities of both government and citizen. A person can become stateless due to a variety of reasons, including sovereign, legal, technical, or administrative decisions or oversights. The Universal Declaration of Human Rights underlines that “Everyone has the right to a nationality.”

Who is an asylum seeker?

When people flee their own country and seek sanctuary in another country, they apply for asylum – the right to be recognized as a refugee and receive legal protection and material assistance. An asylum seeker must demonstrate that his or her fear of persecution in his or her home country is well-founded.

What is the 1951 Refugee Convention?

The 1951 Geneva Convention is the main international instrument of refugee law. The Convention clearly spells out who a refugee is and the kind of legal protection, other assistance and social rights he or she should receive from the countries that have signed the document. The Convention also defines a refugee’s obligations to host governments and certain categories or people, such as war criminals, who do not qualify for refugee status. The Convention was limited to protecting mainly European refugees in the aftermath of World War II, but another document, the 1967 Protocol, expanded the scope of the Convention as the problem of displacement spread around the world.

Use this UNHCR link for more detailed information on the countries from which these refugees come and where they are seeking refuge. 

Historical Context. U.S. immigration policy has taken many twists and turns reflecting political and policy priorities. The U.S. began restricting immigration in 1921 with the Emergency Quota Act. Since then, numerous laws and policies have continued to shape the US immigration landscape. See the Council on Foreign Relations’ U.S. Post War timeline of immigration policy changes from 1952 -2025. 

The 1952 Immigration and Nationality Act (INA), as amended, sets the framework for immigration to the U.S., including the number of visas issued annually and the different categories of immigrants allowed in. The INA allows the United States to grant up to 675,000 permanent immigrant visas each year across various visa categories. On top of those 675,000 visas, the INA sets no limit on the annual admission of U.S. citizens’ spouses, parents, and children under the age of 21. In addition, each year the president is required to consult with Congress and set an annual number of refugees to be admitted to the United States through the U.S. Refugee Admissions Program. Finally, humanitarian protections such as asylum, Temporary Protected Status, and other programs, which may permit someone to reside in the United States legally, do not have numerical caps, but may have other restrictions. For a fuller discussion of different categories of immigrants and visas, see American Immigration Council Fact Sheet on How the United States Immigration System Works.

The U.S. Department of State has played a key role in U.S. immigration policy by managing visa issuance, providing information about U.S. immigration laws and regulations, and representing the U.S. government in foreign countries on immigration-related matters. The State Department’s Bureau of Population, Refugees, and Migration (PRM) oversees aid to refugees worldwide and the U.S. refugee resettlement program and conducts humanitarian and migration diplomacy.

Since 1980, the Office of Refugee Resettlement (ORR), a program of the Administration for Children and Families within the United States Department of Health and Human Services, has been responsible for promoting the health, well-being and stability of refugees, unaccompanied minors and other eligible individuals and families, including victims of human trafficking, those seeking asylum from persecution, and survivors of torture and war, once they have arrived in the U.S.  

Since 2003, the Department of Homeland Security has been responsible for carrying out immigration policy in the United States. The department has three agencies that oversee immigration:

• •  Customs and Border Protection (CBP) is responsible for border control. 
  • The Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) is responsible for law enforcement around national borders and enforcement of laws against illegal immigration. 
  • The Citizenship and Immigration Services agency (USCIS) is responsible for processing legal immigration and naturalization.^[2]
    

Other agencies involved in immigration policy are the Executive Office for Immigration Review in the Department of Justice. See Wikipedia. 

In Fiscal Year 2024 (FY 2024), a total of 100,034 refugees were resettled in the United States. This marked the highest number of refugee admissions in 30 years. The previous year, approximately 75,100 refugees were admitted, according to USAFacts. Thirty-four percent (34,017) were from Africa, 29.9% (29,939) from the Near East/South Asia, and 25.3% (25,358) from Latin America/Caribbean. 

Trump Administration Actions. In 2025, at the onset of the second Trump presidency, the Administration began taking the following actions, which upended U.S. immigration policy:

• Suspended Refugee Resettlement. On January 20, 2025, President Trump signed an executive order suspending refugee resettlement in the United States. Suspending refugee resettlement ended federal funding for federally designated resettlement agencies, leading to substantial layoffs of staff and curtailment of support for newcomers. 
• Restricted Crossings at the Southern Border. President Trump declared migrant crossings along the U.S.-Mexico border to be a national emergency, issued an Executive order barring asylum for people newly arriving at the Southern border and ended a Biden administration program to deter illegal crossings and direct people toward new pathways, such as securing an appointment with an immigration officer using an app called CBP One.
• Terminated the Safe Mobility Initiative. Through its offices in Colombia, Costa Rica, Ecuador, and Guatemala, the State Department,  International organization partners, the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) and International Organization for Migration (IOM) provided information to individuals seeking international protection and other lawful pathways such as refugee resettlement, humanitarian parole, family reunification, labor pathways, and asylum in host countries as well as various support services provided by international organizations and NGOs. 
• Terminated and Announced Plans to Terminate or Reduce Temporary Protective Status (TPS). Temporary Protected Status (TPS) is a program that allows nationals of certain countries to live and work in the United States without threat of deportation for 6-18 months with the possibility of being extended and redesignated. As of April 2025, TPS protected around 800,000 people in the U.S. from: Afghanistan; Burma; Cameroon; El Salvador;  Ethiopia; Haiti; Honduras; Nepal;  Nicaragua; Somalia; South Sudan; Sudan; Syria; Ukraine; Venezuela; and Yemen.  As of the end of April 2025, the Trump administration attempted to end TPS for Venezuelans, but this is being litigated. They also announced plans to terminate TPS for Afghans, Haitians, and Cameroonians. Additional announcements are anticipated regarding TPS for nationals of other countries. Also see the Immigration Forum’s fact sheet on TPS. 
• Targeting Sanctuary Jurisdictions. The administration is targeting sanctuary jurisdictions by threatening to withhold federal funds from these jurisdictions and expanding the 287(g) program that supports partnerships between ICE and state or local law enforcement agencies. These partnerships allow local agencies to enforce certain immigration laws, including identifying and processing individuals who are in the custody of state or local law enforcement and may be subject to removal. Protections in a given sanctuary jurisdiction depend on, among other things, state laws offering added protections and 287(g) agreements with local law enforcement to act as immigration enforcement agents. See ACLU position on sanctuary jurisdictions. Volunteers can also contact their local ACLU affiliate for more information about their specific jurisdiction.
• In a related move, the President rescinded the “ Sensitive Locations”  memo, which stated that ICE policy was not to conduct immigration enforcement in sensitive locations such as schools and religious institutions. This memo never had any binding legal authority, but it had been created/renewed at the discretion of the previous administrations. See the National Immigration Law Center’s Factsheet: Trump’s Rescission of Protected Areas Policies, the ACLU’s FAQ on sanctuary congregations that does not rely on the Sensitive Locations memo, and the Fair Immigration Reform Movement’s FAQ on implications for schools.  
• Implemented a Travel Ban. The ban that went into effect on June 9, 2025 restricts nationals of 12 countries (Afghanistan, Myanmar, Chad, the Republic of Congo, Equatorial Guinea, Eritrea, Haiti, Iran, Libya, Somalia, Sudan and Yemen) from entering the U.S. and partially restricting those from another seven (Burundi, Cuba, Laos, Sierra Leone, Togo, Turkmenistan and Venezuela). The factors targeting nationals from these countries are “the large-scale presence of terrorists, failure to cooperate on visa security, inability to verify travelers’ identities, inadequate record-keeping of criminal histories, and persistently high rates of illegal visa overstays and other things.
• Expanded the population subject to expedited removal. All non-citizens who entered the US without inspection and cannot prove that they have resided in the country for more than two years are now subject to deportation. This means that low-level immigration officers can now summarily remove (deport) certain non-citizens without the opportunity for them to present evidence, contact an attorney, or appear before an immigration judge.
• Capped Count on H-2B Visas for temporary nonagricultural workers and declared that the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) has received enough petitions to reach the cap for additional H-2B visas made available for returning workers. 
• Screening Social Media Activity for Anti-Semitism. USCIS said that it will now consider aliens’ antisemitic activity on social media and the physical harassment of Jewish individuals as grounds for denying immigration benefit requests. 
• Waived COVID-19 Vaccination Requirement. USCIS waived the requirement for applicants for adjustment of status to present documentation on Form I-693 that they received the COVID-19 vaccination. 

Since that time, the Administration has ramped up detention and deportation activities. It declared that all immigrants who arrived in the US illegally–not just those accused of serious crimes– should be detained “for the duration of their removal proceedings” and that they are no longer eligible for a bond hearing as they fight deportation proceedings in court. See The National Immigration Law Center’s The Anti-Immigrant Policies in Trump’s Final “Big Beautiful Bill” Explained for information on other policy changes related to detention and enforcement, as well as health and nutrition, immigration-related fees, and taxes.

For more information, see Brookings Institution’s 100 days of immigration under the second Trump administration.

State and Local Policy. While the federal government has the power to regulate immigration policy, states and local jurisdictions also can – and increasingly are – issuing immigration-related policies, often related to enforcement of, or resistance to, actions taken by the federal government, such as related to sanctuary jurisdictions discussed above. State policies often address eligibility for, and the availability of, benefits related to housing, education, and health care; data collection; identification; driver’s licenses; professional and occupational licensing; and other issues. 

Welcoming America, a national nonprofit organization that promotes collective action to transform communities into more welcoming places for all residents, including immigrants. It developed a Welcoming Standard, which sets criteria, or benchmarks, that local governments, community organizations, residents, and others can use to guide investment in developing a welcoming infrastructure and to hold welcoming places accountable for their policies and practices. A seven part framework defines truly welcoming places: Civic Engagement, Connected Communities, Economic Development, Education, Equitable Access, Government and Community Leadership, and Safe Communities. These criteria underlie a certification system that allows places to achieve one of five star designations for their welcoming efforts. A set of criteria from the Welcoming Standard is tailored to each Certified Welcoming star designation. See here for a map of certified US communities. 

Stay current. The Trump Administration’s immigration policies, state and local implementation of these policies and legal challenges to these policies in the courts is creating a dynamic and confusing environment for immigrants and the volunteers and others working with them. 

You can use the following sources to stay current and learn more about these policy changes and their impact on different populations and geographic areas.

• Global Refuge backgrounders and resources.

• National Immigration Forum (NIF) 
  • • Forum Daily is a daily update of the most current media articles and issues on immigration.
    • Legislative Bulletin is a weekly update with critical immigration issues that were in the news and legislative updates. (You can sign up for these updates; archived updates are available online here.)
• The Impact Project and the Impact Map – This is a U.S. map with programs across the U.S. that have been impacted by recent Trump Administrative actions in every sector.
• Church World Service (CWS) State of Play – This is a daily update about what is happening in the U.S. refugee program, including Afghan SIV and other related issues.
• Immigration Policy Tracking Project (IPTP) catalogues every known Trump administration immigration policy, attaches the source documents, and highlights all updated, new Trump administration policies. Entries are organized by date and subject, searchable by key terms, updated to report on current status, and filtered by first and second terms. IPTP is a collaborative project between Stanford and Yale Universities headed by Lucas Guttentag, founder of the ACLU Immigrants’ Rights project.  ACLU’s challenges to policies are posted on their website.  
• Justice Action Center Litigation Tracker  

The PCC4Refugees website also provides links to a variety of sources of up-to-date and reliable information.  

Advocate for Just Immigrant-Related Policies at the Federal, State, and Local Levels.  You can:

• • • • • • Contact your elected representative to voice your opinion. Many newcomer-serving organizations are making it easy to advocate. Groups like Refugee Council USA or Church World Service have tools to contact your elected officials. Once you have reached out once, follow up.  Also see Guide to contacting your representatives from Welcome.US, and Global Refuge’s 2024 State and Local Advocacy Toolkit. View the PCC4Refugees’ webinar on April 8, 2025 on federal policy and February 12, 2025 webinar on state and local policy.  

• Attend and speak up at town halls

• Write Op Eds for your local newspapers and opinion pieces for online social media networks

• Donate to immigration groups advocating and litigating on behalf of immigrants.

• Encourage school districts and other “sensitive locations” such as houses of worship, courthouses and hospitals to adopt policies saying they will not give consent for US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) officials to come in.  

• Encourage such sensitive places not to collect immigration data/history. This practice has previously been challenged in court.

Educate and Equip Immigrants to Defend Their Rights. You can:

• Inform immigrants of their risks and their rights in the current environment. People need to know about policy changes that will affect them and their rights. Immigrant risks and rights depend on their status. See American Civil Liberties Union, Immigrant Legal Resource Center, National Immigration Law Center information in multiple languages.  See iAmerica cards and Immigrant Legal Resource Center Red Cards for materials to hand out to immigrants.  Also see the National Education Association’s information for schools and educators, and an FAQ on student discrimination.
• Role Play with immigrants on what to do if they are in danger of apprehension. Role playing different scenarios will enable immigrants to become familiar with the language and what they need to do in different situations.  If there are mass raids, volunteers should connect with ACLU affiliates and other local immigrants’ rights organizations preparing for responses. Here are some good toolkits that provide an overview of raid responses and how non-attorneys can help from NILC, CLINIC, and ILRC.
• Urge immigrants who have been in the US for two years or more to carry proof of residency with them at all times. Those individuals are still technically entitled to apply for asylum. The general rule is that an immigrant must apply for asylum within one year of arrival in the country and make a convincing case for why they express a fear of being returned to their countries of origin. Beyond that one-year period, an immigrant must show a good reason why he or she did not apply for asylum within the one-year period.
• Help people to find competent legal representation so that they can understand and use their rights. Get in touch with local “rapid response organizations” that provide support to immigrants facing immigration enforcement, such as ICE raids. Rapid Response Networks (RRNs) offer legal representation, accompaniment, and other services to protect the rights of immigrants. See Rapid Response Networks by Region and Rapid Response Toolkits. Also see Global Refuge’s legal services. In addition, there are several databases for finding immigrant organizations and lawyers: AILA, CLINIC, NIP, and IDN. The costs (whether free or not) will depend on the organization/lawyer (e.g., some charge depending on income level).
• Help people interested in seeking asylum find competent legal assistance to help them understand the kind of information they need to provide to apply for asylum. Many organizations offer pro bono or low-cost legal assistance to asylum seekers, including organizations like HIAS, the National Immigrant Justice Center (NIJC), and the US Committee for Refugees and Immigrants (USCRI), as well as law firms and legal clinics of law schools.

See Peace Corps Community for Refugees’ January 28, 2025 Webinar on Know Your Rights and eight take-ways from that webinar. 

Even with fewer immigrants coming into the country, there are many refugees and other newcomers already in the country who have been left stranded without access to services that had previously been provided. The suspension of the federally-funded refugee resettlement program has left a gaping hole in local capacity to assist newcomers with the resettlement process. Without federal funds to support refugee resettlement services, Resettlement Agencies and many of their partners have had to cut budgets and lay off staff, thereby curtailing their ability to provide the kinds of services often necessary to help new immigrants successfully resettle in the US. Part of this gap can be filled by volunteers such as RPCVs, who have the cross-cultural and language skills to make a real difference in people’s lives. 

Depending on the needs and circumstances of newcomers, resettlement services usually include some combination of the activities listed below. The list starts with activities that usually don’t require a lot of time or necessarily a long-term commitment on the part of individuals and groups of volunteers. These are followed by activities that may require a longer-term and/or more intensive commitment of time and resources on the part of volunteers. The provision of welcoming services can be clustered in different ways depending on local needs and circumstances, including the capacity of paid staff to carry out different functions for the clients they serve. 

As discussed below, some refugee-serving organizations have in the past specified different clusters of services and lengths of time to which groups of volunteers can commit. Also, organizations working with newcomers may require volunteers to get a background check if they are going to be in direct contact with refugees, and meet other relevant requirements, such as requiring potential drivers to have a good driving record.

Resettlement or welcoming services include:

• Picking up the family or individual from the airport or other locations, such as a hotel where they are staying temporarily.
• Finding an affordable place to live and helping them sign the lease.  Since refugees are likely to have no credit history in the U.S., an individual or organization such as a church, mosque, synagogue, or other community-based organization may need to co-sign the lease as guarantor. Refugee Housing Solutions and the Cultural Orientation Resource Exchange (CORE) provide a wealth of resources on housing-related issues.  
• Providing seasonally appropriate clothing to the refugee(s).  This can be done on your own, or many communities have local organizations that provide clothing to people in need. 
• Introducing the refugee or refugee family to the neighborhood food stores, library, parks, religious institutions, etc. (sometimes called community navigation).
• Introducing them to public transportation, including helping them get a discounted transit card, as available.
• Helping refugees with resume writing and coaching for interviews.
• Helping them with financial literacy, including family budgeting and setting up a bank account.
• Helping refugees get a computer and phone (refurbished ones may be available) and sign up for internet and telephone service, if possible, through available discounted plans. 
• Helping translate or interpret for them, as needed. 
• Serving as a mentor and trusted friend, who is available to answer questions and provide advice on issues that arise during the resettlement process.  Cultural sensitivity is especially important since their cultural practices may differ substantially from what they encounter in the U.S.  
• Driving them to Resettlement Agency appointments (if transportation isn’t provided by the Resettlement Agency), medical appointments, school meetings, shopping, etc.  Driving support can be set up on a regular schedule or on an “on-call” basis with a few days’ notice. If children are involved, getting age-appropriate car seats. 
• Helping with longer-term transportation needs, including navigating bus and metro systems to places of employment, helping a refugee learn to drive, get a license, and/or buy a car with proper insurance.  
• Helping them deal with emergency medical issues and find appropriate in-network doctors or clinics. 

• Helping family members gather and obtain necessary personal identification documents, such as state ID, social security cards, and other official paperwork required for various purposes.
• Setting up an apartment or other affordable accommodation for a refugee family. Individual RPCVs or groups of RPCVs can do this in conjunction with a local organization that specializes in this aspect of refugee resettlement. RPCV groups and other groups of volunteers can do this on their own, but they will need a place to store items that are collected, a truck, and equipment such as dollies to move everything and people who can do the heavy lifting. This may include the collection of gently used furniture and furnishings such as sheets, towels, table linens, dishes, dish racks, brooms, etc., the purchase of new mattresses (new mattresses are required by law), transporting these items to the apartment, moving everything in, unpacking, and decorating.  It may also include stocking the refrigerator and shelves with culturally appropriate food and providing age-appropriate toys and books for the children.  

• • Providing English as a Second Language (ESL), early childhood education, and citizenship preparation instruction. See Solutions in Hometown Connections, a nonprofit organization in the Washington DC area, as an example of the use of volunteers for these purposes.  
  • Helping enroll children in school and/or enrichment activities such as an early childhood program or summer camp, and the adults in English language and/or other classes.
  • Helping with asylum applications and other immigration issues. 
  • Facilitating communication and advocating for the refugee(s) vis-à-vis the Resettlement Agency and federal, state, and county government agencies with which the refugee(s) must interact to obtain income support, employment services, health insurance, medical, and other services for which they are eligible. See this primer on accessing benefits and services for refugees. 
  • Complementing Resettlement Agency, Human Services agency and/or Public workforce system-provided assistance in job search, job placement, and access to job training so that the family can support themselves after the initial subsidy period ends. Often, refugee women come with no work experience outside the home. They and their husbands may need orientation to the world of work in the U.S. and help in balancing work-family responsibilities and arranging for child care. See Immigrant & Refugee Professionals Career Services – Upwardly Global and  Tent Partnership for Refugees for potential partnerships.

Generally, it is advisable to phase down the number and intensity of welcoming services provided over time as refugees become able to manage the challenges of daily life in a new country on their own.  It is useful to discuss the timeline for this phase down – usually starting at 90 days – so that providers and recipients of welcoming services share a mutual understanding of expectations. 

Sources of more information and training materials on these services are available from:

• Switchboard is a one-stop resource hub for refugee service providers in the United States. It provides tools, learning opportunities, research, and technical assistance covering a range of topics related to the newcomer experience.
• The Community Sponsorship Hub provides useful guidance on refugee assistance and capacity-building grants to local groups through its Community Sponsorship Catalyst Fund.  The Hub is supported by a consortium of seven organizations with extensive expertise in refugee resettlement, protection of vulnerable populations, and integration into welcoming communities.  The consortium includes Church World Service/Refugee Welcome Collective, HIAS, IRIS – Integrated Refugee and Immigrant Services, International Refugee Assistance Project (IRAP), International Rescue Committee (IRC), and Welcome.US.
• The Refugee Welcome Collective provides online training for community sponsors, staff, and refugees paired with sponsors. However, due to the federal order to suspend offerings funded by PRM, such as Lunch and Learn webinars and Sounding Board social learning spaces, and technical assistance bookings, these activities are canceled until further notice.
• Welcome.US developed this interactive map that helps you identify volunteer opportunities at trusted organizations across the country. Just visit the volunteer page, click on the pin near your location on the map, and select a nearby nonprofit to visit their site and explore ways to help.

The termination, suspension and/or reduction of federal programs and funding streams is creating disarray in the public-private resettlement infrastructure. This infrastructure includes community-based nonprofit organizations, faith-based organizations, voluntary associations such as RPCV groups, and – depending on the state – state and local human services, health, education, and other agencies, each operating with their own mandates and limitations. Nonprofit organizations include the federally-designated Resettlement groups (see discussion below) as well as organizations specialized in specific aspects of the resettlement process such as English language acquisition and groups dedicated to specialized populations such as Women for Afghan Women and  No-One-Left-Behind, which provides assistance to Afghan and Iraqi interpreters, soldiers, cultural advisors and other allies of American troops who have been displaced from their homes due to their association with and support for Americans. 

The initial impact of federal policy changes varies among organizations and communities depending on the mix of federal, state, and local government and private resources supporting various resettlement activities. The longer-term impact is yet to be felt as organizations juggle existing funding sources, try to raise money, and pivot to address the new reality. For example, the nonprofit Homes Not Borders in the District of Columbia, Maryland and Virginia area is shifting from a heavy emphasis on organizing apartment set-ups for refugees, Special Immigrant Visa (SIV) Recipients and asylum seekers to raising money for emergency rental assistance (needed because of the cut off of initial rental assistance for families) and the provision of more comprehensive services. 

This section provides a somewhat updated description of the refugee resettlement infrastructure that was. This description is provided to serve as a starting point for readers to find out what is happening in their communities. 

The following map shows the nationwide coverage of refugee resettlement agencies and their affiliates, and partners in FY 2023. 

The following links to these resettlement agencies take you to the websites of these agencies. Some are still providing support for some newcomer groups using resources other than federal funding. As of the end of 2024:

Bethany Christian Services (BCS) worked in communities in 28 states.

Church World Service (CWS) had 23 refugee and immigration offices spread across 17 different states. Click here to view the full list. 

Episcopal Migration Ministries (EMM)  had 13 affiliate partners in 12 states. It withdrew from the refugee program in May 2025 because of differences with the administration’s policies.

Ethiopian Community Development Council (ECDC) worked through the now-ended Welcome Corps program and the Supporting Higher Education in Refugee Resettlement (SHERR) program. 

HIAS worked with Welcome Corps and resettlement partners in communities in Arizona, California, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, Florida, Illinois, Maine, Massachusetts, Montana, New York, North Carolina, Ohio, Oklahoma, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, Washington, Wisconsin and Texas.  

International Rescue Committee (IRC) worked in 28 cities in the U.S.

Global Refuge (previously Lutheran Immigration and Refugee Service (LIRS)) has global field offices in Fargo, North Dakota; Baltimore, Maryland; and San Antonio, Texas, and operates 50 resettlement and placement sites and one remote placement site with partners throughout the country. It has terminated its partnership with the federal government.

U.S. Committee for Refugees and Immigrants (USCRI) had field offices in Albany NY, Cleveland OH, Detroit MI, Erie NY, North Carolina, and Vermont.   

United States Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB) supported the Welcome Circle program throughout the country. (Welcome Circle is a community-led resettlement initiative that supports everyday Americans in taking on the responsibility of welcoming newcomers to their communities.) It terminated its partnership with the federal government on refugee and children’s services in April 2025. 

World Relief (WR) had 20 offices throughout the United States, each with a unique set of volunteer opportunities. 

Contact information for each of these agencies can be found here.

The duration and level of commitment required of volunteers varied among resettlement agencies. Some had formal programs for engaging volunteers, while others did not. For example, Global Refuge describes requirements and financial and service delivery options for different levels of commitment in their co-sponsorship program. Co-sponsorship commitments can vary from 3-12 months across resettlement sites in the Global Refuge network. Global Refuge’s co-sponsor checklist describes a range of services the co-sponsoring organization may choose to provide. Similarly, IRC describes the requirements and options related to its co-sponsorship program. It limits co-sponsorship opportunities to groups located within 100 miles of participating local IRC offices. 

In addition to resettlement Agencies, there was a network of Transition Centers that provided welcoming services at the US/Mexico Border.  The majority of these were located in California and Texas and are managed by NGOs with the help of volunteers. Upon arrival, the refugees were picked up at the border and transported to the nearest transition center, where they usually stay 48-72 hours. During the transition period, NGOs provided the following services:

• Housing and 3 meals a day
• Medical screenings and medical treatment, as needed
• Travel assistance to book and pay for travel to their sponsors homes 

• Case management
• Transportation for families to airports or bus stations and assistance to passengers through ticketing, security, and boarding

These may still be functioning and undoubtedly in need of volunteers to support these services. The following are links to the application portals for NGOs that work in Transition Centers:  

• • Al Otro Lado, San Diego
  • Annunciation House, El Paso, Texas 
  • Casa Marianella, Austin, Texas.     
  • International Rescue Committee, San Diego
  • Jewish Family Services, San Diego
  • Refugee Health Alliance, Tijuana, Mexico: 
  • Catholic Charities of Rio Grande Valley, Texas

Choose a strategy that is right for your organization. No two RPCV groups are alike, and therefore, there is no simple one-size-fits-all answer to the question of what you should do to address the worldwide refugee crisis. Some groups are geographically based, while others are organized around the countries in which RPCVs served. Still others are issue-focused or based on employment in different federal agencies. Some RPCV organizations are incorporated non-profit 501 (c) (3) organizations; some are not. 

It is important to assess your group’s interest in, and capacity for, successfully undertaking different kinds of action. The options discussed below are organized from relatively easy actions you can take to encourage and support actions by individual group members to short-term, low-commitment group activities that provide much needed services and can be used to test members’ interest in and ability to commit to a longer-term, more demanding effort such as sponsoring a refugee family.  

RPCV Organizations should consider taking the following actions: 

Make RPCV group members aware of refugee-related and other service opportunities. Groups can: 

• Join PCC4Refugees by getting on our mailing list and joining our network of others concerned about the welfare of refugees and asylum seekers.

• Provide a link to this guide on your organization’s website, Facebook page and/or newsletter.

• Localize information in this guide by partnering with the Resettlement Agency(ies) and their partner organizations in your geographic area to receive information about their needs and activities. Many of these agencies employ RPCVs, so partnering should be easy.  For example, Cincinnati Area Returned Volunteers (CARV) posts messages from Catholic Charities, the federally designated resettlement agency in the Cincinnati area, in its newsletter to inform its members of mentoring opportunities, clothing and furniture collection,  and other refugee-related service opportunities in the area.¹  The Missoula RPCV group also actively encourages its members to volunteer in local organizations ranging from refugee assistance organizations to the food bank and tutoring in schools.  Many members of the San Diego Peace Corps Association work and/or volunteer on their own with refugees, asylum-seekers, and other cross-border projects. The Association plans to spread the word about these opportunities in an upcoming newsletter and encourage their members to let them know how they are personally involved. ²

• Highlight refugee-related issues in your organization’s programs and publications. PCC4Refugees members are available to speak at your group’s board and general membership meetings and help you find other appropriate speakers.  For example, Friends of Afghanistan convened a panel at their September 2023 conference in Denver to update attendees on the challenges and opportunities of the Colorado Refugee Services Program (CRSP).

Collect clothing for refugees. Many local organizations collect seasonal and culturally appropriate new and gently used clothing for refugees and provide “closets” or “stores” where refugees can select the clothing they need. The San Diego Peace Corps Association (SDPCA) is doing such work. Recently, it held a sock drive for a local asylum-seeker shelter to benefit those who have been admitted to the U.S., and it is exploring ways to engage with various other organizations that provide humanitarian assistance. 

Provide financial contributions to refugee-serving organizations to support their activities. Raising money requires a commitment, but collecting money is often easier than sustaining the time commitment of volunteers. Financial contributions can take the form of general support for the organization or purchases of specific items such as school supplies, gift cards for food and transportation, or mattresses and other supplies needed for apartment set-ups. Refugees need to repay the federal government for the cost of their flights to the US so helping a refugee or refugee family repay the federal government for the cost of their flights to the U.S. can be really helpful. You can help pay for internet service or provide the deposit necessary for renting an apartment. 

For the past eight years, RPCVs of Madison Wisconsin have contributed all of the money they raise from their heart-of-gold 5K/10K run called Freeze for Food to Open Doors for Refugees, an all-volunteer organization that helps refugees make a home in the Madison area. Open Doors for Refugees helps refugees find housing, and helps them get set up with everything from donated furniture to dishes to winter clothing to backpacks and school supplies. It also provides some funds for food and personal items, and small grants to help refugees start businesses.

Organize a team to provide one or more of the welcoming services discussed in section 4 of this guide. Geographic-based groups can form a team of volunteers to work together to provide one or more welcoming services or sponsor a single refugee or refugee family in their community. 

Providing welcoming services offers volunteers the satisfaction of developing close personal relationships with individual refugees and refugee families, but it is important to be realistic in the capacity of your volunteers to deliver. Some welcoming services are short-term and needed only at the beginning of the resettlement process. Others can extend and evolve over time. Also, some welcoming services require more specialized capacity than others. For example, helping with translation requires language skills. What language skills does your group possess, and do these match the languages spoken by refugees in your region? If you are considering setting up apartments, can you partner with a local organization to work under their guidance? Do you have people who can do heavy lifting? Do you have access to a truck and a place to store donated furniture, or does this local organization have this capacity? Depending on the welcoming services you take on, it is useful–although not essential– to have the following areas of professional expertise in your team: teachers of ESL and other teachers; social workers who understand the complexities of our social services and other systems; employment specialists, and health care professionals who can help refugees navigate the complicated U.S. healthcare system; lawyers, who can help with asylum applications.  What mix of professional expertise do interested members have? 

Depending on the number of welcoming services you take on, it may be useful to set up separate teams for each.

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¹ To learn more about Cincinnati’s activities, contact  Ron Ison at [email protected]

² To learn more about San Diego’s activities, contact SDPCA’s president, Celeste Peacock-Coleman (PC/Ukraine 2005-2007) at [email protected].