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Who Are We?
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The
Catholic
Diocese of Arlington, Office of Migration and Refugee Services (CDA MRS) is one of 104 national affiliates of the United
States Conference of Catholic Bishops.
Office of Migration and
Refugee Services (USCCB/MRS). Since its founding in 1975, the office has
resettled and assisted over 20,000 refugees and asylees in the Northern Virginia community. As the
largest refugee social service provider in Northern Virginia, we expect to serve
over 900 refugee and asylee clients this year alone.
We presently offer services in
five sites throughout Northern Virginia and Fredericksburg including Arlington, Alexandria, Falls Church, Chantilly and the city of Fredericksburg. At each of the sites, a
comprehensive array of resettlement services are offered so as to help newcomers "get on their feet" and become self-sufficient as soon as possible after
arrival. Staff members offer case management services in culturally appropriate
languages - presently we have 20 languages on staff. These services are made
possible by grants from the Virginia Office of Newcomer Services, the United
States Conference of Catholic Bishops, and through the financial support of
churches, parishes, groups, and individual donors.
Who are
our clients?
Arlington Diocese Refugee Services works with refugees and asylees. These
individuals have fled their countries in
fear of their lives. In the recent past, over 1,100 new refugees arrived in
Northern Virginia each year. However, since September 11, 2001, this number has
decreased. Our clients come from all war-torn corners of the globe: Somalia,
Sudan, Ethiopia, Eritrea, the Republic of Congo, Sierra Leone, Liberia, Burundi, Vietnam,
Cambodia, Burma, Tibet, Iran, Iraq, Afghanistan, Cuba, Columbia, Haiti, and Russia
among others.
Our Mission & Philosophy
The mission of
the Arlington Diocese Refugee Services is to help our clients become
self-sufficient as soon as possible. It is our obligation to welcome all newcomers to our land
regardless of gender, race, creed, or national origin and to lift them out of
oppression and empower them with the tools necessary to succeed in their
new land.
Today, we at Arlington Diocese Refugee Services are more committed
than ever before to our mission of "welcoming the stranger" into our community.
We seek to serve with compassion and provide a supportive environment in which
the dignity of each person is respected and the culture of each celebrated. We
believe that that the empowerment process mandates that we address the needs of
the body, mind, and spirit of each of our clients. We always recognize that our
clients are resilient and capable individuals with extensive personal life
experiences and that we are simply providing the tools by which these
individuals will achieve independence in their new lives in America.
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