Agency - Church World Service-Lancaster

Church World Service of Lancaster serves the refugee and immigrant communities of Central Pennsylvania. Through hard work and a long-term commitment of support, people who once had no hope are discovering the means of transforming their lives. We work hand-in-hand with caring churches, organizations and individuals to provide help and homes to refugees, and work to build a hospitable community in the United States for uprooted people so that they can fashion a better future.

Description:
Church World Service of Lancaster runs several programs that provide comprehensive services to refugees. One program, the U.S. Reception & Placement Program, with funding from the U.S. Department of State/Bureau of Population, Refugees, and Migration, ensures that core services like medical appointments, housing, furniture, clothing and food, English as a second language (ESL) registration, school registration, job, and cultural orientation are provided for these individuals. This program welcomes approximately 300 refugees a year to Central Pennsylvania and aims to help refugees adjust and become self-sufficient shortly after their arrival to the United States.

History:
Church World Service was born in 1946, in the aftermath of World War II. A number of denominations came together to form an agency "to do in partnership what none of us could hope to do as well alone." The mission: Feed the hungry, clothe the naked, heal the sick, comfort the aged, shelter the homeless.
More than 60 years later the mission remains, though where and how we accomplish it has changed dramatically. In 1946-47, U.S. churches opened their hearts and provided more than 11 million pounds of food, clothing, and medical supplies to war-torn Europe. Protestants and Catholics pooled talent and resources to meet a staggering refugee crisis. Today the Immigration and Refugee Program of Church World Service is a vital, internationally-lauded ministry, having resettled some 450,000 people since its inception.
Nearly 40 million people around the world are uprooted from their homes and communities by persecution and armed conflict. The Immigration and Refugee Program of Church World Service (CWS/IRP) is an ecumenical family empowering churches to show hospitality to strangers, that is, to immigrants, refugees, asylum seekers and other uprooted people in the United States and around the world. CWS/IRP resettles about 8,000 refugees and entrants in the United States each year, and also helps meet the needs of people in protracted refugee situations and refugees returning home. We are also working to ensure that refugees and displaced persons abroad receive the assistance and protection they need.
CWS, seven participating denominations and their congregations, and 34 CWS local affiliates (including CWS/Lancaster) in 21 states work together to meet the needs of refugees upon their arrival to the United States, assisting them as they strive to attain self-sufficiency. A growing number of local affiliates provide immigration legal services along with refugee resettlement services.

Contact person: Volunteer Coordinator, (phone), (email)

Address:

308 East King Street Lancaster, PA 17602 (See a map)