Summer program in Tennessee focuses on refugee youths

Published: 2005-07-19

NASHVILLE, Tenn. (CNS) -- The Refugee and Immigration Services of Catholic Charities of Tennessee is helping refugee youths in the Nashville Diocese adapt to their new life in the United States. Its refugee youth program includes academic enrichment, community service and cultural activities. It also helps teens and their parents build communication skills. One component of the initiative is a free summer program that began in June and runs through the third week in August. Participants include 22 teenagers from Sudan, Somalia, Burundi, Liberia and Ethiopia, and 25 Somali Bantu children, who are in a special elementary school program called the Kids Care Club. Delinquency prevention is one focus of the summer program, which received grant money in the fall from the Tennessee Commission on Children and Youth. The money also covers an after-school program. The hope is that the summer experience will help the youths feel more accustomed to American life by the time they return to or begin school in the fall.

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