Help Refugees at Risk in the U.S. and Globally

In the United States, the economic impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic have led to a food crisis. According to Feeding America, although the situation has improved somewhat, food banks have seen a 55 percent increase in the number of people seeking help.

Refugees and other new Americans are disproportionately impacted as many are employed in sectors that were hit hard by COVID-19. However, through the IRC’s New Roots program, newcomers to the U.S. are playing a significant role in helping their communities to find healthy, affordable food to feed their families.

What does it mean to be food insecure?

As defined by the United Nations, being food secure is when people have physical, social, and economic access to sufficient, safe, and nutritious food, that is culturally appropriate, always. Food insecurity is the lack of those necessities and can have a dramatic impact on someone’s life.

The IRC’s New Roots Program

The IRC’s New Roots program was founded to help refugees access land and make a living from agriculture. New Roots is made up of thriving community gardens and programs supporting food access, nutrition, and agriculture in twelve cities across the country from New York to California.

Through community gardens and farms, the program allows resettled refugees, new Americans, and their neighbors to grow food either to feed their families and/or to supplement their income. New Roots supports food access and nutrition in a way that is adapted to the person’s needs and experience, as well as local opportunities. For example, many refugees arrive in the U.S. with extensive experience in agriculture while others do not, and the programs vary accordingly. As of 2021, the IRC has a network of more than 62 New Roots gardens, farms, and markets, where more than 5,000 people a year grow, prepare, share, buy, and sell local, healthy foods in their communities.

The gardens allow refugees to grow produce they ate back home that might not be available or affordable in American grocery stores. Many of the gardens are also located in areas classified as "food deserts" because of the inaccessibility of affordable fresh fruits and vegetables.

Menuka* arrived in Salt Lake City as a refugee from Nepal. A relative who lived nearby took her to visit the local New Roots garden. She was surprised and delighted by what she found. "We saw that everything we used to grow in Nepal, they’re growing here,” she said. Today, she grows Nepalese cucumbers and spicy Thai chilies in a plot she tends right next to her mother-in-law’s own garden bed.

Feeding the Community

New Roots is as focused on community as it is on farming. This emphasis became even more critical as the COVID-19 pandemic hit. Since April 2020, the IRC offices, New Roots, and resettlement teams have reached over 6,000 families with groceries and locally grown food. 10% of that food came from New Roots refugee farmers. One of those farmers was Tareke*, a refugee from Eritrea, working in Phoenix, Arizona. Tareke donated hundreds of bushels of swiss chard, fennel, garlic, green onions, and cilantro to be used in care packages delivered by IRC staff.

How else does the IRC help refugees in the US?

Thanks to your generous support, the IRC continues to help protect and rebuild the lives of resettled refugees, asylum seekers, and other vulnerable populations in more than 20 cities across the United States. We provide essential services including housing, health care, education, employment, and legal assistance to provide a solid foundation, helping newcomers integrate and thrive in their new communities.

* Last names omitted to protect privacy

The Impact of Your Support: welcoming refugees in the U.S.

After four years of Trump Administration policies that harmed people seeking safety, President Joe Biden pledged to restore America’s long tradition of welcome. Following some critical first steps during his first 100 days in office, he increased his predecessor’s record-low cap on refugee admissions.

From harm to a new home

As a leading resettlement partner, with more than 20 offices across the United States, the IRC is scaling our support to provide newly arrived refugees with immediate aid, including food, housing and medical attention. 

With your support, each resettlement office can serve as a free, one-stop center for refugees’ needs during their pivotal first months in the country. Through a network of staff members and volunteers, the IRC is helping refugees learn about life and customs in America, secure jobs, learn English, and become citizens. We are providing most of the essential items they need to restart their lives here and help them overcome cultural barriers so that their adjustment is as easy as possible.

Through community gardening, nutrition education and small-business farming, the IRC's New Roots program is giving hundreds of refugee farmers the tools and training they need to grow healthy and affordable food and become self-sufficient.

This month we also began working again with partner agencies to relocate a select group of Afghan citizens granted special immigrant visas for their exceptional service to the U.S. mission in Afghanistan. Together, we are providing services for these individuals, including medical care and safe resettlement by a sponsoring resettlement agency. 

The IRC has resettled more than 16,000 Afghan Special Immigrant Visa (SIV) recipients since Congress established the program in 2006, and is committed to ensuring that these families are given a chance to seek safety. 

Thank you for supporting refugees as they rebuild their lives in the United States.