Project ROSE (Refugee Organization and Service Enhancement)

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Additional information 2007 DC Training Workshop for Refugee Community Leaders [PDF] August 25, 2007—Washington, DC. Information on this workshop will to help you build your skills to be an effective advocate for refugees in your community. This event is hosted by SEARAC. Deadline to RSVP: August 22, 2007. Contact Naomi Steinberg at 202-667-4690/naomi@searac.org. MAA Directory Search the MAA Directory for specific refugee-related programs and services.

What Is Project ROSE?

Project ROSE (Refugee Organization and Service Enhancement) is a partnership between Mosaica: The Center for Nonprofit Development and Pluralism and the Southeast Asia Resource Action Center (SEARAC). The purpose of Project ROSE is to build the capacity of mutual assistance associations (MAAs), refugee-led faith-based organizations (FBOs), and other refugee-serving agencies and organizations to promote high quality services for refugees.

Project ROSE has two main goals:

1. To identify and promote principles and best practices in the delivery of services to refugees, whether provided by public agencies, voluntary agencies (VOLAGs), or refugee-led organizations; and
2. To assist refugee-led groups to choose and implement organizational models that will be sustainable.

Why Is Project ROSE Needed?

In working with hundreds of refugee-led organizations around the country, Mosaica and SEARAC have found that these organizations work within a service delivery system that often knows little about their communities or how to effectively serve them. While accepted best practices for refugee services exist, they are not organized in a form that can be easily disseminated. We have also found that many refugee-led organizations are struggling, partly because they are unfamiliar with the requirements and capacities needed to manage 501(c)(3) organizations and have no knowledge of other organizational models.

What Will Project ROSE Do?

Project ROSE has two main components:

1. Easy-to-use Tools. In consultation with refugee leaders, MAAs, and other service providers around the country, the project team will develop:
• Principles and Best Practices for Services to Refugees. This tool will present commonly accepted principles and best practices in the delivery of effective and culturally appropriate services to refugees, and allow organizations and agencies to assess their own progress in meeting these principles.
• Models for Organizational Development Tool Box. This tool box will include reference materials, checklists, helpful hints, sample forms, and case studies designed to present different organizational models, the requirements of each model, and the steps necessary to implement each model successfully.
2. Regional Trainings. The project team will select three pilot sites for training and technical assistance focused on helping refugee-led and other organizations in the three sites understand and apply the principles and best practices, as well as the organizational models.

For more information about Project Rose, contact:

Thanh Nguyen, Mosaica, 202-887-0620
Bach Pham, SEARAC, 202-667-4690