Boston IRC Office to Close After 30 Years Of Successfully Serving Massachusetts Refugees
17 April 09 After 30 years of successfully helping thousands of refugees forge new lives for themselves in the Bay State, the International Rescue Committee’s Boston office will close in June.
The decision to shut down the Boston office, which opened in 1979 in response to the flood of Southeast Asian “boat people” then fleeing Cambodia and Vietnam, was reached after much deliberation and strategic thinking, IRC President George Rupp and Boston Program Director Rita Kantarowski explained in a joint letter sent recently to IRC staff members and supporters, announcing the closure.
While the global financial crisis and economic recession have made resettling refugees more challenging for all IRC offices, the difficulties and associated expenses have become particularly acute in Boston, which is one of the most expensive local housing markets in the U.S. The situation is further complicated by a changing refugee population that has fewer safety nets to help cope with the life crises they inevitably encounter.
As a consequence, the Boston office has suspended resettling new cases and will be providing full case management and employment services to existing clients through June 2009. To prepare for the office closing and ensure a smooth transition, the IRC has been working closely with the Massachusetts Office for Refugees and Immigrants, along with a network of local social service partners, to make certain that every refugee resettled through the local IRC office will retain access to any critical services they may need.
After the local office closes, the IRC will continue to serve the greater Boston area in other ways. Through its Project SOAR (Strengthening Organizations Assisting Refugees), the IRC will offer ongoing technical assistance, at no cost, to other organizations in Boston that serve refugees.
Although its final chapter is now unwinding, the history of the Boston office cannot be written as a sad story. To the contrary: during the 30 years that its doors were open, the office was responsible for thousands of success stories. It assisted more than 25,000 refugees and political asylees resettle in the area and become productive and successful members of the community, “Our office and its staff leave behind a legacy of dedicated service to Boston and the refugees who resettled in and around the city,” Rupp wrote, praising the center’s dedicated staff for handling their assignment well.
