Countries We Help
People are displaced from their homeland in various places around the world. The circumstances of each situation are different, but the anguish of leaving one's home is the same. Forced to leave, sometimes with only the possessions that a person can carry, displaced people seek refuge in neighboring countries that cannot always accommodate the influx of people. Some stay in camps for many years. In some cases, children were born and raised in the refugee camp and have never seen their native homeland.
The journey that a refugee goes through to escape the danger they face at home is filled with only more danger. Leaving one's country, sometimes with small children, many refugees experience the risk of being caught, robbed, harmed or even killed. For those who do make it across the border into a new land, the refugee camp does not offer the luxuries of home. Sometimes a place to sleep, some food, clean water and rest is the best that a refugee can expect. Other times, refugee camps can become so overcrowdedthat they cannot accept anyone else, or when they do, there is not enough supplies for everyone.
The amount of time that a refugee stays in a camp can vary. Some refugees live in these camps for many years. The process for resettlement in another country is lengthy and difficult. Those who are lucky enough to get through all the paperwork, screenings, interviews, and medical exams are resettled in a country that can be vastly different from anything they have ever experienced. New culture, laws, and expectations await a refugee who are often times not able to read or understand any of the language that is presented to them, but what is offered is safety and an opportunity.
The Tennessee Office for Refugees (TOR) helps the refugees, asylees, SIVs, and victims of trafficking who are resettled in Tennessee to find a new home, work, and the tools to help them acclimate into society here in the U.S. TOR works with various non-profit organizations and government programs to give these individuals and families a chance that they would not have had at home.
If you have the opportunity to meet someone who is a refugee and has been resettled here in Tennessee, take the time to say "hello" or give them a smile; it may be one of the few that they have had in a long time. To learn more about the areas from which these refugees have fled and what they may have experienced, explore the links below and gain a greater understanding of the individuals and families that now call Tennessee home:
- Latin America and The Caribbean
- Africa
