Core Values
Inclusion, Dignity, Welcoming, Relationships, Client-Centered
Mission
Refugee Assistance Alliance trains ordinary people to help the most vulnerable refugees in South Florida with the vital support services needed to survive and thrive in their new communities.
Newcomers given human connections emerge from crisis and achieve self-sufficiency faster. RAA's volunteers, employees, and donors assist forcibly displaced families with language, education, employment, and community navigation to help refugees start to feel at home here, among us. RAA empowers refugees and unites neighbors, strengthening communities in South Florida.
Vision
Refugees have shown extraordinary strength and resilience to join our community. RAA's vision is for our communities to join together to help refugees understand our language and our ways, feel at home here among us, and access opportunities for betterment.
Our Story
““When we arrived in America, we thought it would be the best feeling. But instead, it was one of the hardest times in our lives. We felt we were living in silence. We didn’t have the language to communicate with anyone. We would go to the store to buy milk for our kids, but we couldn’t ask anyone where to find it. It felt like the world was passing us by, like everything was just out of touch. We felt so isolated, so alone.” ”
RAA formed as a local response to the Syrian refugee crisis when local residents discovered that Syrian refugees living in our community struggled to resettle here, learn English, find a job, succeed in school, and make social connections after the 90 days of official resettlement.
For many Cuban and Haitian refugees arriving in South Florida there were existing migrant communities who could provide a support network– but this was not the case for refugees coming from other parts of the world. Their starting point for learning English was the alphabet. Refugees felt overwhelmed and, above all, isolated. They described living "with a wall of silence," of feeling, as an outsider, that going into a coffee shop was “not for them.” They told us they felt unable to communicate this.
Kristen Bloom, a trained English as a Second Language teacher, with practical experience working in the Peace Corps and overseas, coordinated other interested local volunteers to teach English and provide practical help. As the grassroots network grew, it applied for charitable status and began referring partnerships with resettlement agencies to provide extended assistance for the refugees considered by resettlement partners to be Miami's most vulnerable.
““Miami is a hard place to move to in general, so being able to help these families, and befriend them, and support them is important. It’s very eye opening to work with our systems here in the U.S. - especially in regards to health care and insurance.” ”
In recent months, the raise in the federal U.S. refugee cap, the Afghanistan evacuation, the Ukraine war and supportive U.S. response have all led to an increase in refugees arriving in Miami-Dade and Broward. With refugee crises unfolding in Myanmar, South Sudan, Venezuela, Ukraine, Afghanistan, and Syria and other countries across the globe, the need for our support services will remain.
Watch one of our earliest videos - RAA Founder Kristen Bloom, talking about her work, and why she believes it is so important to connect refugees with members of their new community here: