refugees
Friday -- church history day -- and this week I'm thinking about recent history. The current influx of undocumented minors fleeing Central American gang violence in search of a safe haven here in the United States has placed tremendous strain upon refugee resettlement services. However the country decides to cope with these migrants, costs are involved. While these children are in desperate need of assistance, the cost of attending to them threatens to undermine other refugee resettlement programs. Lutheran Immigration and Refugee Services (lirs.org) has been a strong advocate for meeting the needs of all refugees from all countries.
I had the honor of listening to a presentation by LIRS president and CEO Linda Hartke earlier this year. She sounded the alarm about unaccompanied minors fleeing Central America weeks before this crisis became national news. LIRS' attention to and advocacy for "the least of these" forms an important component of Lutheran social services ministry in the United States. The organization's work, however, is nothing new. LIRS' origins can be traced to 1939, when the New York-based National Lutheran Council established a Welfare Department to address the plight of European Lutheran refugees. Following World War II the agency grew into the Lutheran Resettlement Service, attending primarily to the needs of Eastern European Displaced Persons. Since the 1950s, LRS and its successor agencies have attended to the needs of refugees fleeing conflict zones all over the world, from Hungary to Cuba, Uganda to Vietnam, Albania to Burma, and beyond.
See here for an informative timeline detailing the history of LIRS. Information regarding their current advocacy is available on the home page, linked above.
This Wall Street Journal article details the pressures facing refugee resettlement agencies across the country, including information on the great work being undertaken by Jacinda Paschoal and the rest of the wonderful staff at Lutheran Community Services Northwest's Portland office.
I had the honor of listening to a presentation by LIRS president and CEO Linda Hartke earlier this year. She sounded the alarm about unaccompanied minors fleeing Central America weeks before this crisis became national news. LIRS' attention to and advocacy for "the least of these" forms an important component of Lutheran social services ministry in the United States. The organization's work, however, is nothing new. LIRS' origins can be traced to 1939, when the New York-based National Lutheran Council established a Welfare Department to address the plight of European Lutheran refugees. Following World War II the agency grew into the Lutheran Resettlement Service, attending primarily to the needs of Eastern European Displaced Persons. Since the 1950s, LRS and its successor agencies have attended to the needs of refugees fleeing conflict zones all over the world, from Hungary to Cuba, Uganda to Vietnam, Albania to Burma, and beyond.
See here for an informative timeline detailing the history of LIRS. Information regarding their current advocacy is available on the home page, linked above.
This Wall Street Journal article details the pressures facing refugee resettlement agencies across the country, including information on the great work being undertaken by Jacinda Paschoal and the rest of the wonderful staff at Lutheran Community Services Northwest's Portland office.
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