Refugee Youth Project WWW.RYPBALTIMORE.ORG
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The Refugee Youth Project

The Refugee Youth Project seeks to improve the lives of Baltimore's youngest refugees by supporting their academic needs, and making their acculturation simple and meaningful.

The Refugee Youth Project is an after-school program run by Baltimore City Community College in conjunction with local refugee resettlement agencies, mainly the International Rescue Committee. The Refugee Youth Project is funded by the Maryland Office for New Americans. RYP serves over 70 refugees between the ages of 4 and 21. Two hours a day, four days a week, refugees receive academic tutoring and acculturation support from trained volunteer tutors. Volunteers are recruited from many walks of life, but mainly include undergraduate and graduate students studying at local colleges and universities.

The Refugee Youth Program not only meets after school but it seeks to further enrich the lives of Baltimore's refugees by providing extra-curricular week-end activities and service-learning opportunities. Week-end activities include soccer tournaments, CPR and other health trainings, trips to local cultural institutions and historical places of interest.

The Refugee Project Goals

  1. Provide a safe and nurturing environment for refugee youth to develop their academic skills and to interact with each other in a positive way.
  2. Provide refugee youth a chance to interact with positive role models who can help the acculturation process by mentoring the youth and serving as positive role models.
  3. Provide strong academic support to the refugees, especially in identified high needs areas such as reading and math to help them reach their future academic goals.