Refugee Wellness Program Update

(As published in the Jordan Institute for Families September Newsletter)

https://myemail.constantcontact.com/NEW-Jordan-Institute-for-Families-Newsletter-.html?soid=1110472552145&aid=AJZ8v6JqZfI

“I came to America for a new start, to forget the past. No matter how hard I try, the forgetting isn’t working”. This phrase is spoken in numerous languages by people who have survived persecution, torture, and violence across the globe, and have come to build a new life in the Triangle. Through the UNC Refugee Wellness project, resettled families have a chance to come together through support groups to share their strategies for resilience, and engage in individual therapy to reduce symptoms of distress related to past trauma and current challenges. For the past 5 years, this program has also been training the next generation of social workers to provide mental health interventions to refugee adults through group and individual therapy, strengthened families by reducing parental distress, and worked to destigmatize mental health treatment.

2018 is bringing opportunities to this program. First, Refugee Wellness submitted an application to the NC Office of Refugee Resettlement for a new contract to fund the 2019 fiscal year. The team received a generous training opportunity through the Center for Child and Family Health’s Trauma-Focused Cognitive Behavioral Therapy learning collaborative. This training will allow them to begin equipping parents to help their children heal from traumatic stress, something that many refugee parents have requested. With support from the NC AHEC Campus Innovation Award, Director Josh Hinson will collaborate with professors at UNC and Duke to teach an interdisciplinary class of medical, social work, dentistry, nursing, geography, and public health students.

The program welcomed Marlowe Crews Kovach, LCSW-A, back to the team in late June, as the new program coordinator. Marlowe completed her internship at Refugee Wellness two years ago. Marlowe is taking over the great work started by Laura Garlock, who has returned to her home state to continue supporting refugee and unaccompanied asylum seeking youth. Check out Laura’s beautiful reflections on her work with refugee families in this blog post. Five MSW interns will join Refugee Wellness this year, each bringing their unique skill sets. They will facilitate support groups, engage individuals in brief treatment, and bridge clients to community mental health providers or other supports. The team is building a strong partnership with the Jordan Institute for Families, which has already provided grant writing and administrative support to help sustain and grow this work. Questions? Email uncrefugeewellness@unc.edu.