Help us welcome a new family
Hyde Park Refugee Project | Published on 12/10/2019
Dear Friends and Neighbors,
Since 2016, the Hyde Park Refugee Project has brought our South Side community together to help refugee families resettle in Hyde Park and make a successful transition to life in their new country. As we continue to expand our work, we look to you for support.
The Project has grown significantly over the past three years. What began as a nascent desire by a handful of neighbors has become a well-organized effort involving more than 100 volunteers and thousands of volunteer hours this year alone. Today we work with five refugee families and dozens of other immigrants in our community. These families are thriving: they hold jobs, attend local schools, are learning English, and have made many new friends.
Now we’re gearing up, in partnership with Refugee One, to resettle a new family in the spring—and we’re very excited! We know that with the help of volunteers and donors, we can handle the intense work involved in helping new families become established here. This work includes:
- Finding an affordable apartment for the family and providing rent support during their first year.
- Securing furniture and household goods, and taking care of minor repairs.
- Providing clothing to help the family weather Chicago’s harsh winters and hot, humid summers.
- Teaching English to both adults and children.
- Helping to secure employment for adult family members.
- Enrolling children in school and providing in-school and after-school tutoring for them.
- Enrolling family members in health care, scheduling visits, and accompanying them on those visits.
To resettle a new refugee family, while continuing our current work, requires both new funding and additional volunteers. Our fundraising goal for the coming year is $32,500. This amount will allow us to welcome a new family, including helping them with rental assistance for their first year. It will also support our highly successful summer enrichment program, which serves refugee children as well as other young English-language learners from Hyde Park and surrounding communities. And it will enable us to reach out to the community and bring in the new people, skills, and resources that keep the Hyde Park Refugee Project strong and growing.
Please join us in these efforts. You can contribute by clicking the “Donate” button above or below. Our partnership with the Hyde Park & Kenwood Interfaith Council makes your gift tax deductible.
Click here to make an online donation.
If you would like to mail a check, please make it payable to Hyde Park & Kenwood Interfaith Council (HPKIC), 1448 E. 52nd Street, #117, Chicago, IL 60615 and write Refugee Project on the memo line.
Thank you for your ongoing support.
In friendship,
Lisa Jenschke
Dorothy Pytel
Co-Directors