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History

RefugeeWorks was created in 1997 as a program of Lutheran Immigration and Refugee Service (LIRS), one of the ten national voluntary agencies responsible for resettling refugees into the country each year. The same year, the U.S. Office of Refugee Resettlement selected RefugeeWorks as the government's principle training and technical assistance provider for employment and self-sufficiency.

Since this time, our staff has traveled extensively across the country providing training and consultation to our partners within the national refugee employment network.


Historical Timeline

Some highlights from our past years of service:

2007
RefugeeWorks celebrates 10th Anniversary
New website launched

2006
RefugeeWorks establishes inaugural Advisory Board
Financial Literacy for Newcomers report published with funding from Thrivent Financial for Lutherans
Advanced Employment Training Institute debuts in Atlanta

2005
Staff partners with local organizations to co-host Employment Training Institutes in Baltimore, Jacksonville, Las Vegas, Omaha, Fresno, Chicago, Miami and Portland, Maine

2004
The film The Way to Work: A Job Preparation Guide for the Somali Bantu distributed to the national network
RefugeeWorks selected as one of nine national organizations for Wilder Foundation's two year Nexus project, Strengthening Refugee and Immigrant Led Organizations

2003
Center for Budget and Policy Priorities features RefugeeWorks for third year in marketing materials on Earned Income Tax Credit promotion

2002
California Refugee Youth Initiative launched
First Employment Training Institutes held in Philadelphia and Des Moines

2001
Refugee Youth Employment Manual is published

2000
Inaugural newsletter published and distributed to over 2,500 readers

1997
RefugeeWorks program launched at Lutheran Immigration and Refugee Service