Learn more about the people finding
hope in a life through Project 658.
We are a Christ-centered, holistic ministry providing services for at-risk families in Charlotte, moving them toward sustainability; with a key focus on the international and refugee communities.
What is an At Risk Family? There are many ways a family can be considered “At Risk”, here some common indicators:
- Economic stress issues (living at or below the poverty line, loss of job, unable to pay bills, loss of primary income source, homeless, etc.)
- Substance abuse, child abuse and neglect issues, or domestic violence in the home
- Child development issues (low score on the developmental screen, health history, or general observation)
- Extreme or questionable health, mental health, or nutrition issues
- Children with documented disabilities
- Family’s inability to deal with stress in a way that is healthy and productive
- Family literacy issues
For more information and data about the community we served visit forcharlotte.org.
What is an immigrant? An immigrant is a person who migrates from a foreign country, usually seeking permanent residency. There over 150,000 people in Charlotte who are foreign born and not US Citizens.
Who is a refugee?
A refugee, as defined by Section 101(a)42 of the Immigration and Nationality Act (INA) based on the United Nations 1951 Convention and 1967 Protocols relating to the Status of Refugees, is “a person who is unable or unwilling to return to their home country because of a well-founded fear of persecution due to race, membership in a particular social group, political opinion, religion, or national origin.”
What does that mean in simple terms? A refugee is a person who has been forced to leave his or her home country.
What is the Refugee Resettlement Process?
Along with the definition of a refugee, it’s helpful to define a few more terms when explaining the refugee resettlement process.
A person who has left her or his home in fear of persecution, but has not crossed an international border.
A person who has fled from his or her country and is seeking refugee status in another country.
When an asylum seeker or refugee is forcibly returned to the country from which they have fled.
When a person returns to his or her home country voluntarily. If they are forced to go against their will, this is know as “forced repatriation” and is the same as refoulement of deportation.
Someone who has left her or his home to look for better work and a higher standard of living in another place.
- Voluntary repatriation: refugees are able to return to their home country because their lives and liberty are no longer threatened.
- Local integration: host governments allow refugees to integrate into the country of first asylum.
- Resettlement in a third country: repatriation is unsafe and the first-asylum country refuses local integration.
