International and National Organizations

• UNHCR- The UN Refugee Agency
  The Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees was established on December 14, 1950 by the United Nations General Assembly. The agency is mandated to lead and co-ordinate international action to protect refugees and resolve refugee problems worldwide. Its primary purpose is to safeguard the rights and well-being of refugees. It strives to ensure that everyone can exercise the right to seek asylum and find safe refuge in another State, with the option to return home voluntarily, integrate locally or to resettle in a third country.

• Center for Applied Linguistics

Improving communication through better understanding of language and culture
CAL carries out a wide range of activities to accomplish its mission. The Center for Applied Linguistics

1. Promotes and improves the teaching and learning of languages
2. Identifies and solves problems related to language and culture
3. Serves as a resource for information about language and culture
4. Conducts research on issues related to language and culture

• Women's Commission for Refugee Women and Children

The Women’s Commission for Refugee Women and Children works to improve the lives and defend the rights of refugee and internally displaced women, children and adolescents.

-We advocate for their inclusion and participation in programs of humanitarian assistance and protection. -We provide technical expertise and policy advice to donors and organizations that work with refugees and the displaced. -We make recommendations to policy makers based on rigorous research and information gathered on fact-finding missions. -We join with refugee women, children and adolescents to ensure that their voices are heard from the community level to the highest councils of governments and international organizations. -We do this in the conviction that their empowerment is the surest route to the greater well-being of all forcibly displaced people.

• U.S. Committee for Refugees
  To address the needs and rights of persons in forced or voluntary migration worldwide by advancing fair and humane public policy, facilitating and providing direct professional services, and promoting the full participation of migrants in community life.

Local Organizations

• The Center for Women and Families

• Family and Children First
  To strengthen our community by helping families with children maximize their emotional, social and physical well being through behavioral health and social services, advocacy, and prevention efforts.

• Seven Counties Services
  To improve the lives of people at risk for or affected by mental illness, developmental disabilities, addictions and abuse.

• Lac Viet Academy

The Lac Viet mission is to empower immigrant parents to more fully and effectively participate in the education of thier children, while providing high-quality after-school and summer enrichment programs to immigrant youth that emphasize intensive literacy development and increased academic achievement. Through opportunities to experience ever-increasing levels of success, students at Lac Viet gain the necessary tools to become self-confident learners and advocates for their own achievement both inside and outside the classroom

• Acardia Community Center

The Arcadia Community Center is a non-profit organization that exists to empower families by providing holistic services that help them reach self-sufficiency and independance. We also work towards nurturing understanding in a multi-cultural setting.

• Jewish Family and Vocational Services

To strengthen individual, family, work and community life, enhance self-sufficiency, and reflect the enduring values of Jewish tradition.

• Kentucky Refugee Ministries
  Kentucky Refugee Ministries, Inc. (KRM), a non-profit organization, is dedicated to providing resettlement services to refugees through church- and agency-based sponsorship in order to promote self-sufficiency and successful integration into our community. KRM is committed to offering access to community resources and opportunities and to promoting awareness of diversity for the benefit of the whole community.

• Catholic Charities of Louisville
  Catholic Charities of Louisville, Inc., a member of Catholic Charities USA and part of the Catholic Church in Central Kentucky, provides service for people in need, advocates for justice in social structures, and calls the entire Church and other people of good will to do the same.

• JCPS
  The Jefferson County Public School District is committed to education and the well being of students. This commitment is evidenced by our focus upon student success, family/guardian and community collaboration, and employee efficacy, and by the infusion of each into every aspect of the District's programs and activities.

• University of Louisville
  The University of Louisville shall be a premier, nationally recognized metropolitan research university with a commitment to the liberal arts and sciences and to the intellectual, cultural, and economic development of our diverse communities and citizens through the pursuit of excellence in five interrelated strategic areas: (1) Educational Experience, (2) Research, Creative, and Scholarly Activity, (3) Accessibility, Diversity, Equity, and Communication, (4) Partnerships and Collaborations, and (5) Institutional Effectiveness of Programs and Services.

• Health Department
  The Louisville Metro Health Department is a government agency operating under the direction of the mayor and the Louisville Metro Council. An eight-member Board of Health appointed by the mayor provides advice and citizen input. The mission of the Louisville Metro Health Department is to protect, preserve, and promote the health, environment, and well being of the people of Metro Louisville.

• Department of Human Services
  Our work centers on children, youth, adults and the elderly – providing the assistance they need at different periods in their lives. Our ultimate goal is to strengthen families, because strong families provide the underpinning for a strong community
  

• Office for International Affairs The Office for International Affairs (OIA) supports and promotes a vibrant, successful, interconnected, multicultural community through awareness, advocacy and referral.

• Sister Cities of Louisville

SCL is a non-profit membership organization dedicated to global friendship, multicultural understanding, and economic growth by developing lasting relationships between the Louisville area and Sister Cities around the world.