Saturday, April 27, 8:30-10:30

Purpose: Establish an organization dedicated to providing support to recently arriving refugees residing in temporary hotel shelters in Woburn and Arlington, Massachusetts

Membership: CARE is recruiting volunteers willing to be trained and submitting to a simple background check who will give of their time and talent to the goals of the organization. While most CARE volunteers will be drawn from Winchester, anyone is welcome to volunteer.

Services: CARE will be divided up into three teams:

Moving Team: Volunteers will be recruited to fill several teams which will provide moving help to families transitioning from their current hotel to permanent housing. CARE will be looking for available trucks, dollies, and willing volunteers to lift and carry furniture and household items.

Language Team: Volunteers will be recruited to be trained with a specific language curriculum over a three-week period (10 hours) in order to work directly with English learners both in community locations and at the refugee hotels.

CARE Leadership: Volunteers will take on the organizational leadership of the various teams and liaison with staff serving the refugee services and shelters.

The CARE meeting on Saturday, April 27th, agenda will be:

8:30-9:00 Refreshments, Registration, and Introductions

9:00-9:30 Brief presentation on the Refugee Emergency

9:30-10:30 Breakout in the three teams described above

Sponsors:

CARE is drawing support from the Winchester faith communities that have partnered for refugee resettlement and sanctuary in the past. The Network for Social Justice is also assisting with promotion and volunteers. Social Capital, Inc. is providing the presentation of the Refugee Emergency. CARE is open to sponsoring support from any other organization aligned with our goals.