Charlottesville, most known for being the hometown of the “Wahoo’s”, has the least unemployment rate. For this reason many refugees are relocated to Charlottesville after arriving in the United States. And there are centers that host and help assimilate the refugees during their first six months in America the fact is that after that six month grace period they are expected to stand up on their own two feet. And this is hard to do when these days 98% of jobs require people applying to adequately read and write.
Last year when searching for local non-profit organizations, I stumbled upon the Hope Center. The Hope Center is located downtown on 11th and 13th; this organization helps local refugees with their reading, writing, driving, and several other skills while providing a daycare center for their children. I was amazed at the amount of work they did and I was surprised that they were not as known around campus. I began to volunteer with them last year while doing a service project for a course I was taking and realized that while they only had about three main volunteers it never stopped them from holding sessions. Talking to them I found out the difficulties the refugees faced coming to the US and the lack of career services resources of opportunities there were, simply because they did not know enough English. So the Hope Center’s main objective is to help them assimilate by providing driving classes at a low manageable price, and free wiring and reading workshops. The Hope Center does amazing work and I am amazed at their dedication and progress with their clients. The main problem they face is lack of volunteers, so if you have any free time you should look up the Hope Center is Charlottesville and mentions your interest, it’s a great cause and you will fall in love with the program and amazing diversity there.
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