Worcester $450K refugee wellness program launched
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A new pilot program recently brought together Angela Bovill, president and CEO of Ascentria Care Alliance, Jan Yost, president and CEO of The Health Foundation of Central Massachusetts, Robert Carey, Director for the Office of Refugee Resettlement and Linda Hartke, president and CEO of Lutheran Immigration and Refugee Service.
Ascentria Care Alliance will manage a pilot program aimed at enhancing the health and well-being of refugees in Worcester as they transition into the community.
The Partnership for Refugee Wellness project from the Worcester organization will be funded in part by a $456,695 pilot grant from The Health Foundation of Central Massachusetts. The program is intended to tackle the health needs of refugees as they arrive in the country by promoting their self-sufficiency, integration and engagement in the community.
“Many refugees arrive here with multiple health and social needs due to violence and trauma in their home country, and to years spent in overcrowded refugee camps, family separation and acute deprivation,” Angela Bovill, Ascentria president and CEO said in a statement.
Ascentria works with refugees and offers services such as case management, employment and education assistance including English language classes. The organization will serve approximately 275 refugees this year. These services focus more on employment and self-sufficiency and less on overall well-being, Bovill said.
The planning grant will allow Ascentria to partner with other local organizations and create a new model for refugee integration, according to the organization. A number of private and public organizations are part of the project, including the city of Worcester, Lutheran Immigration & Refugee Services and the Family Health Center of Worcester.
The program will include refugees from a wide range of geographies.
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