The International Rescue Committee (IRC) responds to the worst humanitarian crises all around the world and offers life-saving care and assistance to refugees. The Dallas IRC is a huge part of this organization.

In life, many people face adversity. From our day-to-day lives, many people face adversity with their jobs, family, finances and personal life.

However, people from around the world face adversity at a much greater magnitude and live right here in Dallas.

“I’ve seen mothers rummaging through neighborhood dumpsters. Before they came here back home, they were constantly worrying about avoiding stepping over land mines with their three-year-old child strapped on their back, husbands watching their wives getting raped and families avoiding going shopping with their kids because of suicide bombers,” IRC Dallas volunteer Mathew McNulty said.

Albert Einstein originally founded the IRC in 1933. It was designed to help refugees relocate and to rebuild their lives that had been tarnished.

The IRC is a government-funded program with 90 percent of their funding spent directly on aiding and assisting refugees.  Only six percent of the committee’s funds are spent on administrative fees and four percent is spent on fundraising promotions.

Today, the IRC operates in over 40 countries worldwide and in over 22 cities in the U.S. Dallas plays a significant role in the IRC and is a new home to over 10,000 refugees.

Debi Wheeler, executive director of IRC Dallas, said, “So many of these families faced a lot of hardship prior to coming here. Every year, the IRC is allowed only a certain number of refugees to enter the U.S…. Dallas has a large refugee population.”

The United States only allows 70,000 refugees to enter the country every year.

When refugees come to the United States, they need help from the IRC with things like learning about U.S. culture, housing, clothing, enrolling children in school, finding jobs and learning English.

Volunteers are a vital part of the program. IRC volunteers serve as mentors for the refugees and often do more than what is asked.

 “We need to get the word out about these kids and families—a volunteer for each family would help them out tremendously,” McNulty said.

They are people just like us who want a better life for their families”

IRC Dallas is only allowed to assist refugee families for the first six months of their residency in the U.S.

After that, refugee families are forced to fend for themselves and lose support from IRC’s federal funding and its agents.

That is why many volunteers serve as mentors for refugee families after their  six month aid period ends.

Eve Kyoma, development manager for IRC Dallas, said, “Many of the refugee families that come here rely on the volunteers as their go-to people for any issues that arise…they really do become a part of the family.”

The refugee families are appreciative of the help from IRC and its volunteers.  

The relationship the volunteers and refugee families form is often  strong, and many volunteers feel that they become part of their families as well.

Kwo Htoo, an 11 year-old boy from Thailand, is a refugee who was rescued by the IRC.

“They always want to help us with everything, and we like to cook food for them when they come over,” Htoo said. “They also like to play sports with us and taught me American football.”

Byma Xingtaou is refugee with four children from Nepal.

 Two of her children were born inside a refugee camp before they were brought to Dallas by the IRC.

“The IRC people are very nice, and they are part of my family forever,” Xingtaou said.

While the volunteers and employees of IRC are dedicated to their refugee families, IRC still needs more volunteers for the refugee families they bring over.

“With the amount of refugees we have in Dallas and the growing population, we need more volunteers to help, so we can help as many as we can,” volunteer Amanda Moore said. “There is only so much we can do.”

IRC Dallas offers the opportunity for Dallasites to help people from all around the world.

“Just a couple of hours a week can make a world of difference for our neighbors,” McNulty said.

 While many problems are occurring worldwide, the IRC demonstrates compassion and care for all people.