The Refugee Youth Project

The Refugee Youth Project seeks to improve the lives of Baltimore’s youngest refugees by supporting their academic needs, and making their acculturation simple and meaningful.

The Refugee Youth Project is an after-school program run by Baltimore City Community College in conjunction with local refugee resettlement agencies, mainly the International Rescue Committee. The Refugee Youth Project is funded by the Maryland Office of New Americans. RYP serves over 50 refugees between the ages of 6 and 21. Two hours a day, four days a week, refugees receive academic tutoring and acculturation support from trained volunteer tutors. Volunteers are recruited from many walks of life, but mainly include undergraduate and graduate students studying at local colleges and universities.

The Refugee Youth Program not only meets after school but it seeks to further enrich the lives of Baltimore’s refugees by providing extra-curricular week-end activities and service-learning opportunities. Week-end activities include soccer tournaments, CPR and other health trainings, trips to local cultural institutions and historical places of interest.



The Refugee Youth Project goals

1. Provide a safe and nurturing environment for the refugees to develop their academic skills.
2. Provide the refugees a chance to interact with Americans who can help the acculturation process by mentoring the youth and being positive role models.
3. Provide strong academic support to the refugees, especially in identified high needs areas such as reading and math.
4. Support Baltimore City Public School’s ESOL curriculum, while simultaneously helping regular classroom teachers stay abreast of their refugee student’s special need for accommodations.
5. Work in conjunction with the resettlement agencies to identify individual needs of each child, and work to meet those needs in a suitable manner.
6. Provide enriching cultural and social opportunities to the refugees.
7. Provide opportunities for parental involvement.
8. Provide information regarding education beyond high school.
9. Provide opportunities for the youth to begin to work towards their future academic goals.
10. Provide information and opportunities for sensitive issues to be discussed in a safe and nurturing environment.
11. Provide an environment for refugees of all ages and ethnicities to interact with each other in a positive way.