Refugee Transitions is a community-based nonprofit agency serving high-need, low-income refugee, asylee, and immigrant newcomers who have experienced forced migration due to war, violence, or economic duress. Based in the San Francisco Bay Area, Refugee Transitions provides education, family engagement, and community leadership services that help newcomers from over 50 countries become self-sufficient and successful in their new communities. A key component of their work over the last 30 years has been fostering cross-cultural relationships between receiving and newcomer communities and developing leaders within the newcomer communities.
Refugee Transitions' mission is to assist newcomer families in becoming self-sufficient in the United States by providing services to help them attain the English language, life, job, and academic skills they need to succeed in their new communities.
Their vision is to see all newcomers thrive and become full, participating members of our shared communities. They believe in the power of education to unlock opportunity, and they provide solutions that are transformative for students and volunteers alike. They are honored to share in the journeys of their students and firmly believe that refugees, asylees, and immigrants have the resilience and leadership potential to shape our world for the better.
The core service is Home-based Tutoring, for which they recruit, train, and match volunteer tutors with youth and adult newcomer students. This individualized program is highly effective. Their Home-based students consistently outperform demographic averages in terms of graduation rates and language-learning gains, and they are able to reach the most isolated members of our communities—newcomers who are young mothers, elderly, or disabled. Their Home-based Tutoring is supported by English Language and Literacy Classes for adults and After-School Tutoring for youth, along with family services and leadership development opportunities that help to find comprehensive solutions and create pathways forward for newcomers.
