Programs

FIRM is funded through a number of private and public sources. We organize our projects into four major Program Areas.

Wellness and Welcome

FIRM offers a number of systems navigation support

We offer several health programs that meet both the physical and mental health needs of the refugee community.  Members of the refugee community suffer from considerable mental health challenges stemming from their traumatic experiences and anxiety.  We do our best to be a resource to the community for support, referrals and a center of hope as it concerns the vast health needs of the refugee population in Fresno.

Literacy and Learning

Education is an issue of great importance to our organization and to the refugee community.  We believe at FIRM that this requires work as early as birth that must continue all the way through high school and into college.  To us, education also involves the parents as much as it does the child.  FIRM works hard in a variety of programs to see that children from the refugee community in Fresno have academic success!

Community Building

Our community building program area includes: organizing, advocacy and community development initiatives. As an organization, we believe strongly that direct services to the refugee community must be paired with a strategic advocacy program in order to not only create temporary solutions, but lasting, systematic change based on the feedback we hear and see everyday in the community.  Advocacy can be challenging in many refugee communities, who have experienced persecution in their birth country. We work hard to engage in community organizing efforts that build a strong team of community advocates from each people group we serve, and to learn together the ways that government in the US can be different than how they experienced government previously.

Community Building includes financial stability, affordable housing and inclusive community development. FIRM is proudly a HUD-certified Housing Counseling agency.

COVID-19 and Emergency Response

Our staff ensure that as many people as possible have access to the information they need in the language they feel most comfortable speaking. Beyond access to information, Community Health Workers and Outreach workers help families navigate to emergency and COVID-19 resources. Due to language barriers, many people from the refugee community simply do not learn about community resources, services or other important information that would benefit themselves and their families.  We work to ensure that communities such as the Hmong, Laotian, Arab, Slavic, Afghan and African populations in Fresno receive pertinent information in their own language and are assisted in navigating systems to access resources they may need.  Outreach is hard work, but necessary for building relationships with residents we don’t already serve and help us build a more resilient and ready community.