Volunteering with local refugee organizations
International Rescue Committee
About the IRC:
The International Rescue Committee (IRC) is a global humanitarian aid organization that responds to the world’s worst crises and helps people survive, recover, and rebuild their lives.
The IRC in Tucson opened in 1997 and is one of 26 U.S. offices that work locally with the community to provide culturally and linguistically appropriate services that reflect the unique challenges refugees face. Our mission is to provide opportunities for refugees – survivors of violent conflict, and often torture – to rebuild their lives and regain self-reliance.
Interns will be assigned to various tasks, such as helping newly arrived refugees find employment, teaching Cultural Orientation classes to help refugees adjust to life in America, or advocating on behalf of refugee’s medical needs.
Internship Program Details and Application Process:
Interns are accepted on a rolling basis, depending on the needs of the program.
Minimum is 10 hrs/wk for 14 weeks during the fall and spring semester and 20 hours for 8 to 12 weeks during the summer.
This is an unpaid internship, but course credit is often available. Please check credit eligibility requirements from your university department and come prepared to ask any necessary questions during your interview.
Details of the application process and a full list of roles, descriptions, and requirements are online HERE. You must apply by April 15th to be considered for summer internship position.
In order to be considered for one of our internships, you must apply through our careers page HERE.
Please note that our office has officially reopened and most of these internships will be either fully in-person or hybrid.
Internship Positions:
- Employment and Economic Empowerment
- Education and Learning
- Housing and Logistics
- Survivors of Torture & Asylum-Seeking Families
- Family & Youth Case Management
- Cultural Orientation
- Resettlement Assistance
- Victim Services
- Therapeutic Services
- Health and Medical Advocacy
- Health Education
For any questions, please contact the Volunteer/Intern Coordinator at VolunteerTucson@Rescue.org or 520.369.3397
Refugee Youth Mentorship Program
About the Refugee Youth Mentorship Program (RYMP), Lutheran Social Services of the Southwest
RYMP is intended to help provide leadership, structure and healthy relationships for refugees between the ages of 15 and 25 who are within their first 5 years of resettlement. The program will match community mentors with refugees to aid them in working towards their unique goals related to vocational advancement, educational success, or community participation. RYMP aims to foster self-discovery, create a strong sense of community, and equip refugees to successfully navigate new systems while honoring their own cultural contributions to society. In doing so, we envision a world where refugee status youth can make a deep connection with the Tucson community through reciprocal, strength-based mentorship, in order to become empowered self-advocates that will invest in others.
Volunteer Opportunities
Brief overview of the 4-month mentorship commitment:
- Mentors and Mentees will provide us with information about their interests, wants, and needs via an application form and interview.
- If a mentee meets our program eligibility, the case manager will complete a needs assessment to help identify the mentee's needs and guide them towards making a goal for vocational advancement, educational success, or community participation that can be achieved within 4 months.
- Mentors will attend a mentor training/refugee 101.
- Mentees will attend an orientation.
- Both will start with a kick-off event to become familiar with the program (and each other!).
- Mentees and Mentors will make contact once a week throughout the designated time frame.
- RYMP staff will check in with volunteer mentors and their progress with their mentee to provide any support, advice, or guidance as needed to navigate their relationship with their mentee.
- Mentees complete their goal! Mentors end their mentorship or begin with a new mentorship cycle.
What do volunteers do?
Mentors and Mentees are asked to make a 4-month minimum commitment, making contact at least once a week to work towards the mentee’s goal. Weekly contact can be in the form of phone calls, texts, and email, but should be in person at least twice a month.
What kind of experience or skills do volunteers need?
Intercultural experience or proficiency in a second language (Swahili, Arabic, Dari, Farsi) are preferred, but not required. Volunteers must be over the age of 18, and have a fingerprint clearance card, reliable transportation, and effective communication skills.
What kind of training (if any) do they need?
Volunteers will be required to attend a 2.5-hour, RYMP Mentor Training/Refugee 101 session before they start their mentorship.
For more info visit:
IG: @rymptucson
Primary contact for volunteering
Sara Sherman, 940-297-9009; ssherman@lss-sw.org
Iskashitaa Refugee Network
About Iskashitaa Refugee Network
Iskashitaa Refugee Network is a grass-roots organization that helps rebuild the lives of United Nations refugees and asylum seekers. We do this through partnerships within the community and food-based programming. Iskashitaa empowers refugees by creating opportunities to use their knowledge and skills from their home countries to help their families become a part of the Tucson community. Iskashitaa Refugee Network (IRN) gleans ~100,000-150,000 pounds of backyard fruits and vegetables each year. We are recognized locally, nationally & internationally for our work in promoting local food resources, advocating for refugees and empowering people by harvesting in neighborhoods thus building a better stronger, fair community
Volunteer Opportunities
Volunteers at Iskashitaa Refugee Network can volunteer for many activities. We need harvesters twice a week(Monday/Friday). These volunteers go with our staff, other volunteers and UN Refugees, on the harvest where we could harvest several hundred pounds of citrus, produce or other desert edibles. We harvest year-round. NO experience is needed, just hard work and a desire to meet UN Refugees and help them practice their language skills, be willing to learn from them. We also have volunteer opportunities every Wednesday at the UofA Community garden on Mable street. This is our Refugee Garden Art Program (RGAP) that brings staff, volunteers and refugees together to work in the garden, seeding, weeding, harvesting and then a weekly art activity that becomes a social time for the refugees. Trainings include City Wide Refugee 101 and IRN 201, these are online trainings for a better understanding of refugees. This information and more are on our website, including links for training and signups.
For more info visit:
Primary contact for volunteering:
Catholic Community Services Migration and Refugee Services
About Catholic Community Services (Migration and Refugee Services)
Migration & Refugee Services (MRS) of CCS - Tucson provides resettlement services to welcome refugees into their new lives and community. The services include case management, links to employment, job readiness training for adults, culture orientation, transportation, housing, short-term financial assistance, English as Second Language class for adults, and school registration for children.
In cooperation with the U.S. Department of State and the Arizona Office of Refugee Resettlement, MRS welcomes families who have legally entered the United States and have escaped persecution in their home countries. Over the past 40 years, refugees from Southeast Asia, Bosnia, the Middle East, and Africa have successfully relocated to Tucson and taken advantage of the opportunity to work and raise a family in a safe and caring community.
Volunteer Opportunities
Migration & Refugee Services (MRS) of Catholic Social Service provides resettlement services to welcome refugees into their new lives and community. Volunteers assist in a variety of ways:
What do volunteers do? Volunteers can help MRS set up apartments for newly arriving refugee families. Help refugees learn and practice basic English through conversation, basic lessons. Help refugees adapt to their new home by being a family mentor, providing local, social, and cultural orientation. Help refugees to open a bank account and teach refugees how to use public transportation. Pick up and deliver furniture, appliance, and other donations to refugees and transport refugees to and from appointments and/or work. One area of need that we have currently is updating refugee files with information. Each refugee has a case file that contains activities from the moment they step off the plane in Tucson. We are looking for Interns that can help us in this crucial endeavor.
What kind of experience or skills do volunteers need? No Experience Necessary
What kind of training (if any) do they need? Refugee 101 training
Fore more info visit:
https://www.ccs-soaz.org/volunteer
Primary contact for volunteering:
Migration & Refugee Services program of Catholic Community Services at (520) 670-0821 or email Maria Ruiz at mariar@ccs-soaz.org.