Our World Refugee Day party is our biggest yearly event. We hope past and present refugee famlies, volunteers, and friends of RAA will all attend. Last year we had about 130 people and it was a joyous time shared by all!

Join us for Migration Stories this Friday at 7 pm at CIC Miami! Use the link on the graphic to register today. Hope to see you there!

Join us TOMORROW for a refugee simulation as we join Miami-Dade County and the Office of New Americans for 10 Days of Connection! Use the link on the graphic to register for the simulation Sunday, May 1 at 4 pm.

All volunteers, donors, and friends of RAA are invited. RSVP required by event invite link to follow.

Volunteers come together to help distribute goods to newly arrived new neighbours

Join us Saturday September 25 for Taste of Syria with Takht Al-Nagham. This event, part of the Rhythm Foundation’s Axis of Love series, will feature a Taste of Syria dinner from 6-8 pm followed by a concert by the Takht al-Nagham Ensemble. All proceeds from the dinner support RAA’s TASTE series.

“As the performing arm of the Syrian Music Preservation Initiative, Takht al-Nagham Ensemble keeps alive the traditional music repertoire of Aleppo, long a center of traditional Arab music. The ensemble is led by violinist Samer Ali, who founded the group with other leading Syrian and US artists. Born in Syria, and now living and working as a physician in New York City, Ali is a member of the National Arab Orchestra.”

- The Rhythm Foundation

For more details and to get your ticket today, use the link below!

https://www.rhythmfoundation.com/

Our ED, Kristen Bloom will be a panelist!

Join the World Affairs Council of Miami with our partners to learn about the efforts to welcome refugees.

About this event

Join the World Affairs Council of Miami with our partners, the Refugee Assistance Alliance and Global Ties Miami, to learn about the efforts to welcome refugees to South Florida. This event is hosted during Welcoming Week, a program of Welcoming America, where from September 10th through the 19th organizations and communities bring together neighbors of all backgrounds to build strong connections and affirm the importance of welcoming and inclusive places in achieving collective prosperity.

Miami and South Florida have received hundreds of refugees from different parts of the world in recent years. Learn about the journey of refugees from their homes to Florida and how you can support them.

Panelist will include:

• Kristen Bloom, founder of the Refugee Assistance Alliance.

• Nancy Jackson, District Director, Office of Miami-Dade County Commissioner Eileen Higgins, and former United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) official.

Moderated by:

• Kevin Huntting, Humanist & Conscious Leadership Coach.

For more details click this link:

https://www.eventbrite.com/e/welcoming-syrian-afghan-and-other-refugees-to-south-florida-tickets-168810303161

We are introducing our new Navigating the USA program! Our new "Navigating the USA" program consists of customized information, training and resources provided by a group of committed sponsors who assist that family over the course of a year. Of course, we all know those relationships last longer than one year… We will continue to provide English instruction for those who need it, as we consider English acquisition to be essential to fully adapting to and participating in their new communities.

Save the Date!

Mark your Calendars for RAA’s World Refugee Day Park Party!

For our families, volunteers, donors, and friends.

The event will take place the afternoon of June 19 from 2-5 pm at Tree Tops Park in Davie.

Food, games, and fun for the whole family!

COVID safety precautions will be taken.

Please join us at 7 pm EST for a Refugee Experience Simulation. The simulation is intended to give you an idea of what it’s like to flee your home for safety and journey to a refugee camp. Sign up using the link below. Please note, due to the nature of the simulation, guests will not be admitted after the simulation has begun, so please come on time!”

Warning: This simulation is powerful and could be triggering for anyone

Miami’s 10 Days of Connection runs May 1-10th this year. The community event, supported by over 100 local organizations, aims to build empathy, increase understanding, and help us collectively refocus on shared humanity.

RAA hosted two events during last year’s 10 Days of Connection, and we had a blast connecting with so many people. This past year has been hard in so many ways, so we thought we would do one event this year just to have fun and connect with others over some delicious wine! If you’ve never tried Scout & Cellar wine you’re in for a treat!

As a fundraiser, this wine tasting supports RAA’s mission to foster community and promote togetherness. Sales commissions from every purchase during this tasting event will be donated to RAA. We want to help grow RAA’s community!

To order, use the following link: https://scoutandcellar.com/wine/?u=allthecleanwine

Message us or @chelsealamping with any questions. Hope to see you there!

Please join us at 7 pm EST for a Refugee Experience Simulation. The simulation is intended to give you an idea of what it’s like to flee your home for safety and journey to a refugee camp. Sign up using the link below. Please note, due to the nature of the simulation, guests will not be admitted after the simulation has begun, so please come on time!”

Warning: This simulation is powerful and could be triggering for anyone

Zoom link will be sent to prospective volunteers who reach out to us via https://www.refugeeassistancealliance.org/volunteer-with-our-families

For client families, staff, Board, volunteers, donors and friends of RAA!

Wear your holiday attire and bring a dessert for you and your family from your favourite cultural holiday to tell us about. We will meet new friends, say hi to "old" ones, and share our desserts from around the world. There will a separate art event for kids of all ages run by our Kids Club Leaders, which includes former-refugee high school students in our program.

Zoom link will be sent via email through our next newsletter.

Clients will have the opportunity to learn more about taxes and finances in the USA

Please join us for a powerful simulation of the refugee experience from 7-8 pm ET on Give Miami Day (Thursday, Nov 19). Warning: This simulation could be triggering for anyone who has experienced trauma or displacement. Please send us a message with your email address to register for this event.

 Food collaborated and prepared by volunteers and RAA refugee chefs. Open to the public; tickets will be sold (free to refugees). Sponsored in part by the Coral Gables Community Foundation. 

Join our Director of Operations for an orientation to volunteering with RAA. We will discuss basic programming as well as cross-cultural sensitivity, relationship building, setting boundaries, and more. Open to all past and current volunteers, and any new volunteers who have turned in our Basic Signature Documents.

All current and past volunteers are invited to attend our Zoom gathering to meet other volunteers, share about the work you do or have done for RAA, and tell us a story or take-away from your time volunteering. Grab a glass or wine or a cup of coffee and join our staff and team! Volunteers & Board only, via Zoom. 

Applying for United States Citizenship?

This topic is to help prepare RAA’S client families who are anticipating applying for their United States Citizenship within the next year. This talk will be repeated in the future. CLIENTS ONLY, via Zoom.

Join our staff, Board, volunteers and friends of RAA to learn about Scout & Cellar wines, which you can purchase after the event to benefit the work RAA does with former refugee families. Open to all. Join here:  https://www.facebook.com/groups/3687683617929029.

Grab a cup of coffee or cool drink and join us to tell us how you and your family are doing, review what assistance we offer in case you have unmet needs, and give feedback on our various programming. CLIENTS ONLY, via Zoom. 

RAA’s Taste of Syria is partnering with The Rhythm Foundation and North Beach Bandshell. Dinner prepared by RAA’s refugee chefs. Open to the public, tickets will be sold.

 Racism in the USA: The historical and present-day Black American struggle. We held this talk privately for our clients, the first in an ongoing series of informative sessions. Our clients come from around the world and don't have much of a background in U.S. history, so we are thankful to have had Professor Claire Oueslati-Porter, and Board members Nadir Elamri and Amelia Gowdy share about the unique history and present struggles that Black Americans face, complete with personal examples and current context.