The Immigrant and Refugee Community Organization (IRCO) has been awarded $2,181,237 over three years in grants from local funders.

The City of Portland Children's Investment Fund awarded IRCO $1,791,237 in grants to establish two new programs and to continue another. The African Immigrant Mentoring (AIM) Project will offer at-risk African immigrant or refugee youth between the ages of 14-21 asset-based one-on-one mentoring and small group activities for minimum of one year.

The Child and Parent Success (CAPS) program will achieve healthy child development for immigrant and refugee children ages 0 to 5 and build the knowledge and skills of their parents or primary caregivers through a combination of home visits, parent groups, screenings, assessments and referrals.

The After Program for Immigrant and Refugee Education (ASPIRE) was refunded for a second round because of its success in working closely with schools and community partners to provide culturally specific school-based academic and social support services to immigrant and refugee students and their families in the Marshall High School cluster.

United Way awarded IRCO $130,000 per year for three years to launch the African Community Collaboration for Economic Self-Sufficiency (ACCESS) project which will provide culturally - and linguistically-specific financial literacy classes and workshops, Individual Development Accounts, tax and credit assistance to low-income African refugees and immigrants.

In making these grants, the Children's Investment Fund and United Way have acknowledged the increasing numbers and deep needs of arriving refugees and immigrants, as well as the unique qualifications of IRCO to successfully integrate those populations. Non-English speaking and limited English speaking immigrants and refugees have limited access to services due to language barriers, yet are often in the greatest need because of coming from refugee camps or countries where they were not educated, had no exposure to child development practices, and have never received monthly income or had reason to learn money management skills.

Release date: June 25, 2009