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About Us
Just a few short years ago, the Village Institute was born from the question:
“How might we create a community where single mother-led refugee families can easily access the resources they need and make use of the skills they have to succeed in this country?”
Since then, our small staff of family services providers and early childhood educators, refugee moms and families, and a strong network of partners and mentors brought this community to life in the height of the pandemic, opening our doors in May, 2020.
We have demonstrated our ability to engage the community, create essential programming, build on what works, and redesign what does not.
Our proudest moments in our journey so far have all tied back to our ability to innovate in the face of adversity, making services more accessible for single mom and other high-need refugee and immigrant families:
Spring 2020
Housing four high-need refugee families in the very early days of the COVID Pandemic with the support of two Peace Corps evacuees living onsite
Families from Burma, South Sudan, Eritrea, and Congo were the first to join our community. With All four having lost housing, jobs, and support systems due to the dire pandemic circumstances, we were able to provide a safe and supportive environment for them to weather the storm and continue building towards their goals.
Since then, we have transformed this program into our Village of Many Mothers - a non-residential intensive case management program for single moms and other highly vulnerable refugee families to access critical support and resources.
Spring 2021
Launching and fully staffing our early childhood education center - The Little Village - with passionate, talented refugee women, many of whom have children in the program themselves
These incredible educators have worked hard to build a community of support among themselves, in their classrooms, and with students’ families.
Our teachers are all working towards continuing education goals in order to improve their skills in the classroom, advance their careers, and build wealth for their families. We are consistently impressed, humbled, and inspired by this team of educators.
Summer 2022
Co-designing and launching a powerful curriculum for refugee, immigrant, and first-generation teens
This has offered them a chance not only to advance their careers but also to better support themselves and their families with health and mental health needs.
Students have expressed feeling empowered by their newfound knowledge of healthcare systems, advocacy tools, trauma and recovery, sustainable self-care practices, and professional development skills.
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