The Diocese of Allentown: Refugee and Immigration Services

America opened its doors to
31,184 refugees* and 1,063,732 total
immigrants** fleeing persecution, wars, and grinding poverty.

Pennsylvania welcomed 717 refugees**, and 158 refugees
were served in various ways in by Catholic Charities in 2003.***
2002 Report of the Office of Refugee Resettlement *
2002 Yearbook of Immigration Statistics, Department of Homeland Security**
2003 Annual Report, Catholic Charities***

That is reality.
This is Catholic Charities.
Protection from persecution and the search of freedom, peace, and opportunity are beacons that attract the oppressed to America every year.
Newly arrived populations bring with them fresh energy, untapped talent and invigorating ideas. But thousands also bring with them social service needs that must be served before they can become self-reliant and productive members of American society.
compassionate human services with respect for the sanctity of all human life. We provide opportunities for volunteering. Contact the Catholic Charities office nearest you.

Catholic Charities responds to the US Catholic Conference of Bishops' call to "Welcome The Stranger" through a range of Refugee and Immigration Services that help ease new arrivals into the fabric of local community life.

Reception & Placement (R&P)
After starting the program in 1975 to assist Vietnamese refugees displaced by the fall of Saigon, Catholic Charities became a refugee resettlement site under an agreement with the US Catholic Conference of Bishops to promote family reunification and peoples separated while escaping persecution. Hundreds of refugees have since been resettled in various parts of the Lehigh Valley, having originated from Vietnam, Bosnia, the former Yugoslavia, Kosovo, the Sudan, Liberia, Cuba, China, and many other parts of the world.

Parish & Community Resources for Refugees (PCRRP)
To assist the agency in meeting the financial, emotional and material needs of refugees without sponsoring families, Catholic Charities enlists teams of volunteers from parishes, churches and the whole community as sponsors. Volunteers are recruited, trained and supported in every stage of their sponsorship commitment.
Match Grant
Catholic Charities has been a Match Grant site since 2001, enabling the agency to provide even more support and incentives to newly arriving refugees and asylees to promote early employment and achieve economic self-sufficiency without accessing public cash assistance.
Catholic Charities is proud of the fact that during the first six months of the program, 83 percent of Match Grant clients were employed, and three out of four refugee families achieved self-sufficiency within four months of their arrival.

Refugee Social Services (RSS)
Catholic Charities provides refugees with employment services, English Language Training (ELT) and other human services that promote family stability and self-reliance. Refugees are eligible for RSS services for up to five years after arrival.
Many of the agency's Reception & Placement and Match Grant clients receive employment upgrades and ongoing English Language Training beyond the eligibility period for those two programs.
Private donations of pre-owned vehicles also help refugees in accessing community services, work training, job searches and employment. The agency's refugee work placement rate, in fact, exceeds the 65 percent placement rate mandated by the Office of Refugee Resettlement.
Refugee youth are assisted with school placement and English as a Second Language services In addition, acculturation services are provided by agency staff and volunteers to orient new arrivals in the way the American socio-economic system works. Translation services are available in many languages to better serve various ethnic groups, including African, East European and Asian subsets. ELT services are provided through staff and volunteer tutors; language classes are also offered in beginner and conversational English.
A subcontract with the Diocese of Scranton enables Catholic Charities to provide these services throughout the northeast region of the state.

Immigration Program
General Immigration and
Refugee (I&R) Services
Catholic Charities immigration and citizenship services help individuals and families understand the Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS, formerly INS) system, and assist them with immigration and naturalization processes that lead to legalization of their status, family reunification and citizenship.
General I&R services assist immigrants and refugees filing entry petitions and applications for permanent residency, adjustment of status and naturalization. In 1989, the Board of Immigration Appeals recognized Catholic Charities as an accredited provider of immigration services. In 2000, the agency began offering citizenship classes leading toward naturalization for immigrants and refugees.
Catholic Charities's staff and volunteers reflect the ethnic, cultural and linguistic diversity needed to serve the agency's increasingly diverse and expanding immigrant and refugee constituency.

Our mission is to provide compassionate human services with respect for the sanctity of all human life.
We provide opportunities for volunteering. Contact the Catholic Charities office nearest you.

Catholic Charities is a private non-profit social service agency operating under the auspices of the Diocese of Allentown. Its services are available to any person residing within Berks, Carbon, Lehigh, Northampton or Schuylkill County regardless of race, ethnic origin, religion, gender, age, color, political affiliation, creed, disability and Limited English Proficiency.

Catholic Charities is financially supported by the Bishop's Annual Appeal, Holiday Appeal, grants, fees, donations and federal, state and county governments.

Its programs are approved for funding by the PA Departments of Education, Community Affairs and Public Welfare, and County Departments of Human Services including Children and Youth, Mental Health/Mental Retardation and Aging.

BERKS COUNTY
Madison Bldg, 400 Washington St., Suite 100
Reading, PA 19601-3966
Tel. 610-376-7144 Fax 610-376-7145
E-Mail: chulver@allentowndiocese.org

LEHIGH-NORTHAMPTON COUNTIES
530 Union Blvd, Allentown, PA 18109-3230
Tel. 610-435-1541 Fax 610-435-4367

SCHUYLKILL-CARBON COUNTIES
1720 W. Market St, Pottsville, PA 17901
Tel. 570-628-0466 Fax 570-628-3343
E-Mail: jwassell@allentowndiocese.org