In March of 2000, all of the officially recognized refugee service organizations in the Central Pennsylvania region agreed to form a cooperative organization in order to best serve the needs of refugees arriving in Central Pennsylvania communities. This organization, The Refugee Services Coalition of Central Pennsylvania (RSCCP), has the following membership: Immigration and Refugee Services, Catholic Charities (IRS/CC); Refugee and Immigration Services, Tressler-Lutheran Services (RIS/TLS); PRIME - Ecumenical Commitment to Refugees (PRIME-ECR); International Services Center (ISC); and the Institute for Cultural Partnerships (ICP). Member organizations are equal partners in this coalition. Coalition members collectively function as the regional refugee social services provider. The Coalition’s directing and policy-making body is a management team made up of the directors of these five refugee service organizations. The management team meets regularly to assure proper cooperation and coordination among the service providers and invites other non-refugee service organizations to meetings as well.

The Coalition’s mission is to provide culturally and linguistically appropriate services to enable refugee families to attain self-sufficiency as soon as possible after arrival in the Central Region through a well coordinated network of refugee resettlement and service programs; to increase the cooperation among all service providers and other organizations serving refugees in the Region, and assure optimal utilization of existing resources and prompt response to problems and new initiatives as they occur.

Background and Mission of RSCCP Member Agencies

Immigration and Refugee Services, Catholic Charities (www.hbgds.htmiocese.org/charitiel):

Over the course of the past 61 years, Catholic Charities of the Diocese of Harrisburg, Inc. has provided a wide range of human and social services to individuals regardless of race, sex, age, religion, disability or political belief. As the agency continues to grow in the scope of service, size and budget, it is proud of its tradition as being one of the largest social service agencies in Central Pennsylvania. It is staffed by over 200 full and part-time members complemented by volunteers who assist in various aspects of its operation.

The mission of Catholic Charities of the Diocese of Harrisburg, PA, Inc. is to respond to the human service needs of people throughout the fifteen counties comprising the Diocese of Harrisburg. Catholic Charities does this by creatively fostering the ideals of Christ through a caring, living faith by: promoting and advocating respect for all human life, and; providing a continuum of services to families, children and youth.

IRS/CC has been providing services to refugees for over twenty-five years in Central Pennsylvania. In this region, IRS/CC is the only voluntary agency providing such a large range of services which include Reception and Placement Services, Match Grant Program Services, Refugee Employment Services, English Language Training and Immigration Counseling/Processing Services. Years of experience in providing these services to refugees have helped IRS/CC to systematize interagency referrals, establish good client tracking procedures and carry out a well-coordinated delivery of services.

For additional information on Immigration and Refugee Services at Catholic Charities contact Norman Lederer at Nlederer@hbgdiocese.org.

Tressler Lutheran Services (www.diakon.org/services.html):

Tressler Refugee and Immigration Services is a program of Diakon Lutheran Social Ministries. Diakon is a new organization; the result of a merger between Tressler Lutheran Services, Mechanicsburg PA and Lutheran Services of the Northeast, Topton PA. Our mission statement is: "In response to God’s love in Jesus Christ, Diakon Lutheran Social Ministries will demonstrate God’s command to love the neighbor through acts of service."

Diakon offers a range of high quality services designed to aid children, youths, adults, families, older persons, and refugee and immigrants. Their service area includes Pennsylvania, Maryland and Delaware.

Tressler Refugee & Immigration Services program has offered comprehensive services to refugees since 1972 when it was created to facilitate the efforts of congregations and community volunteers committed to assisting refugees from Uganda. This program meets the needs of refugees arriving to central Pennsylvania through initial resettlement services, matching grant, case management, job development, and referrals for any other needed service. Tressler also receives funding as a Preferred Communities site, participates in a refugee community development project, provides naturalization preparation services through a contract with the state, and is a current provider of Refugee Social Services through a subcontract with Catholic Charities Immigration and Refugee Service.

For more information contact Alan Dudley at adudley@tressler.org.

PRIME-Ecumenical Commitment to Refugees:

PRIME-Ecumenical Commitment to Refugees has as its mission to reach out to the strangers among us, particularly the uprooted refugee and immigrant, welcoming them and enabling them to build a safe and secure life, and to become self-sufficient, contributing members of their community. PRIME-ECR is a not-for-profit, ecumenical refugee resettlement and immigration assistance ministry begun in 1983 by the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) in Clifton Heights, PA (Delaware County). In 1986, PRIME-ECR became an affiliate of Church World Service and expanded to welcome the contributions of other communions. At this time, PRIME opened a sub-office in Lancaster, PA, housed in St. Andrew’s United Church of Christ to better serve our churches and clients in Central Pennsylvania. PRIME now ministers to refugees and immigrants from two locations, one in Lancaster, PA and the other in Clifton Heights, PA.

PRIME operates through funding from Church World Service, and through gifts from local denominations and individual churches. Church sponsors are solicited from among the following denominations served: American Baptist Churches, Church of the Brethren, Mennonite Church, Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.), Seventh Day Adventist Ministries, Southern Baptist Convention, United Church of Christ, and the United Methodist Church. Since 1983 PRIME has resettled over 4000 refugees. Roughly one-third of this number is resettled by PRIME’s Lancaster office. The majority of the refugees resettled in the area served by the Lancaster office are resettled through full church sponsorships. Both offices have grown to offer other services to refugees and immigrants, including immigration counseling, employment services (Clifton Heights only), Matching Grant Program (Lancaster office), and Cuban-Haitian Primary Resettlement Program (Lancaster office).

For more information contact PRIME at primelanc@desupernet.net.

The International Service Center (ISC):

The International Service Center (ISC), is an inter-ethnic, multi-service nonprofit social service agency that started out as an Mutual Assistance Association in 1976 for the expressed purpose of promoting, supporting and implementing cultural, educational, social, and economic programs to serve the disadvantaged and underprivileged people of all nationalities.

This purpose was translated over the years, into the provision of such vital services such as: Refugee Sponsorship and Resettlement, Case Management, Counseling, Life Skills Education, English as a Second Language, Vocational English Language Training, Crisis Intervention, Mental Health Support Services, Information & Referral, Translation & Interpreting, Employment, Emergency Food and Shelter Assistance, Youth Leadership Training, Community Economic Development, Elderly Care Management, Educational Support Services, Case Consultations, Technical Assistance and Training.

Since its inception in 1976, the ISC has always strived for excellence in the provision of assistance to the refugees and immigrants. Besides providing basic human services to a diverse client population, the ISC is also actively involved in local and national refugee advocacy efforts. Furthermore, the ISC has successfully developed and nurtured a strong network of refugee community organizations, business alliances, and professional associations, in line with its mission of fostering mutual understanding and mutual support among all peoples.

The ISC possesses a multi-lingual, multi-cultural staff and volunteer base with language capabilities in Albanian, Arabic, Cambodian, Chinese, Ethiopian, French, Gujarati, Hebrew, Hindi, Korean, Laotian, Polish, Russian, Serbo-Croatian, Spanish, Thai, Tigrinya, and Vietnamese. From 1976 to 1990, ISC provided Refugee Social Services that included resettling refugee families from many parts of the world, including Vietnam, Cambodia, Laos, Ethiopia, Cuba, Haiti, Iran, Poland, Afghanistan, Rumania, and the Former USSR.

For more information contact ISC at isc1976@aol.com.

Institute for Cultural Partnerships:

ICP’s most successful and noted accomplishments in its five-year history have been creating effective partnerships among diverse organizations and communities. ICP’s staff has an extensive history with refugee services. ICP’s management staff have over 15 years of experience in administrating refugee programs, including Refugee Social Services (RSS). ICP is currrently administering a grant meant to create multi-ethnic refugee communities.

For information on ICP’s refugee programs contact Ron Kirby at kirby@culturalpartnerships.org.