Advocacy for Refugees, Immigrants, and Limited English Speakers (RIL)
The Refugee, Immigrant, and Limited English Speaker (RIL) Team includes multilingual staff members who work at two levels – assisting individual clients on-site and in the community and advocating for system improvements.
The RIL Team assists survivors who are refugees, immigrants, and limited English speakers through utilizing the survivor’s strengths, experiences, and skills. The team works directly with survivors as well as advocating for systemic change. These efforts are aided by RIL team members’ understanding of cultural barriers and ability to communicate with their clients in their language of origin.
Individual Advocacy
The RIL Team conducts one-on-one meetings with clients in order to:
- Advocate to ensure language access needs are met
- Advise on immigration cases and implications
- Provide emergency shelter for survivors and their families
- Provide emotional support and psychoeducation on legal options, safety planning, and crisis intervention
- Aid in meeting immediate needs such as housing, education, and employment, and in connecting clients to agency and community resources
- Refer clients to WC&S legal advocate services for court and legal support
- Assist clients in filing Protection from Abuse Orders (PFAs)
Within the Agency
The RIL Team works to help WC&S staff become better equipped to serve refugees, immigrants, and those who communicate in English as a second language. They provide advice, case management, and internal trainings on cultural awareness and humility.
Systems Advocacy
The RIL Team participates in coordinated efforts to change how systems respond to and serve RIL survivors of domestic violence. These efforts aim to eliminate barriers and ensure inclusivity through collaborative research, outreach, advocacy, education, and training in systems such as justice, medicine, social service, and language access.
Partnering Organizations
We are so grateful to work with the following organizations to bring services to refugee, immigrant, and limited-English speakers in the Pittsburgh area.
Related Healing and Supportive Services
- Hotline Services
- Emergency Shelter
- Individual Therapy
- Legal Advocacy
- Immediate Needs Coordination (INC)
- Children, Youth, and Families (CYF)
To learn more, contact our Hotline to speak to our trained advocates. If these services are full we will place you on a waitlist and contact you once it opens up.
