Migration and Refugee Services
The Catholic Diocese of Arlington, Office of Migration and Refugee Services (CDA MRS) is one of 104 national affiliates of the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops. Office of Migration and Refugee Services (USCCB/MRS). Since its founding in 1975, the office has resettled and assisted over 20,000 refugees and asylees in the Northern Virginia community. As the largest refugee social service provider in Northern Virginia, we expect to serve over 900 refugee and asylee clients this year alone.
We presently offer services in five sites throughout Northern Virginia and Fredericksburg including Arlington, Alexandria, Falls Church, Chantilly and the city of Fredericksburg. At each of the sites, a comprehensive array of resettlement services are offered so as to help newcomers "get on their feet" and become self-sufficient as soon as possible after arrival. Staff members offer case management services in culturally appropriate languages - presently we have 20 languages on staff. These services are made possible by grants from the Virginia Office of Newcomer Services, the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops, and through the financial support of churches, parishes, groups, and individual donors.
Arlington Diocese Refugee Services works with refugees and asylees. These individuals have fled their countries in fear of their lives. In the recent past, over 1,100 new refugees arrived in Northern Virginia each year. However, since September 11, 2001, this number has decreased. Our clients come from all war-torn corners of the globe: Somalia, Sudan, Ethiopia, Eritrea, the Republic of Congo, Sierra Leone, Liberia, Burundi, Vietnam, Cambodia, Burma, Tibet, Iran, Iraq, Afghanistan, Cuba, Columbia, Haiti, and Russia among others.
The mission of the Arlington Diocese Refugee Services is to help our clients become self-sufficient as soon as possible. It is our obligation to welcome all newcomers to our land regardless of gender, race, creed, or national origin and to lift them out of oppression and empower them with the tools necessary to succeed in their new land. Today, we at Arlington Diocese Refugee Services are more committed than ever before to our mission of "welcoming the stranger" into our community. We seek to serve with compassion and provide a supportive environment in which the dignity of each person is respected and the culture of each celebrated. We believe that that the empowerment process mandates that we address the needs of the body, mind, and spirit of each of our clients. We always recognize that our clients are resilient and capable individuals with extensive personal life experiences and that we are simply providing the tools by which these individuals will achieve independence in their new lives in America.
We are an affiliate of the US Conference of Catholic Bishops and are an office of the Catholic Diocese of Arlington. Because many of our clients come from different cultures and religious backgrounds, we observe a strict no-evangelism policy.
