Mentor a Refugee Family

Save to Favorites

Are you looking to positively impact Atlanta's refugee community? Looking for fulfilling one-on-one volunteer opportunities?

Become a Refugee Family Literacy Mentor!

Purpose and Impact:

The Catholic Charities Atlanta office of Refugee Resettlement provides numerous support programs for newly-arrived refugees. Volunteers play a vital role in supporting the work we do with refugee families.
A lack of English language creates barriers to social and economic opportunities for newly-arrived refugee families adapting to life in the U.S.

We seek creative, empathetic and culturally aware volunteers to serve as in-home literacy tutors and personal mentors for under-served clients. Not only does the family literacy program address the needs of clients whose lack of transportation, medical or childcare needs prevent them from attending ESL classes, it creates comfortable in-home learning environments and fosters supportive social relationships between families in transition and volunteers with valuable social and cultural knowledge about the United States to impart. By offering your time as a consistent friend and English conversation partner, you can help address the needs of parents and individuals as well as providing families the tools to support the academic needs of their children.

SPECIFIC RESPONSIBILITIES

• Develop a friendly learning relationship with the family or individual. This relationship is respectful to the diversity of our clients, including their religious backgrounds. Many clients are Congolese, Syrian, Burmese, Iraqi, Afghan or Bhutanese.

• Record and report the social, language and literacy needs of the client and their children through journaling and check-ins with the program coordinator.

• Prepare for each weekly 2 hour session and deliver flexible language curriculum based on the client/family’s needs. Be flexible about what your match will expect out of each visit and adapt to be most helpful after getting to know each other better.

• Build language instruction into daily activities and needs that you can provide additional support and mentorship for. Eg. Filling out social service forms, navigating a new neighborhood, shopping, MARTA, etc.

• Ability to travel to the client’s home area at least once per week and work respectfully within their home environment. Most families live in Clarkston, GA.

• Establish positive working relationships with the client's case worker and regularly communicate client’s development with the volunteer coordinator.

QUALIFICATIONS: Volunteers must go through a background check and all necessary trainings including a training on refugee resettlement, ESL literacy, mentoring, and a VIRTUS training on recognizing and reporting child abuse and neglect,that is to be completed before beginning service. The volunteer coordinator will provide literacy materials and resources to support the volunteer's visits.

Must be over 18 and must have experience working in diverse settings.

Must commit to one weekly two hour visit, minimum for a four month period.

RSVP for upcoming required trainings:
Volunteer Orientation and Safe Environments training: Saturday June 16th 11:00 am-4:00 pm

Opportunity contact: Chelsea Driver
Email: cdriver@catholiccharitiesatlanta.org
Phone: 678-222-3953