NewHope Community Care is excited to be a part of a new Australian community sponsorship program for refugees, known as the CRISP (Community Refugee Integration and Settlement Pilot). The CRISP program enables groups of everyday Australians to welcome refugees into their local area from ‘day one’ of their Australian journey and provide them with practical resettlement and integration support.
What started as an innovative pilot, will now be a permanent feature of Australia’s humanitarian migration program. This is testament to the wide range of benefits of this community-led approach for refugee newcomers, local communities and the everyday Australians who put their hands up to welcome a refugee household.
How does it work?
1. A group of five or more adult volunteers (known as a ‘Community Supporter Group’ or ‘CSG’) join forces to provide 12 months of practical, hands-on support to a refugee household from their date of arrival in Australia.
2. Community Refugee Sponsorship Australia (CRSA) approve, train and support CSGs and connect them with a refugee household referred into the CRISP.
3. Refugee participants identified as in urgent need of resettlement by the UNHCR are referred into the CRISP program by the Australian government. They come from a wide variety of countries, with most waiting a significant amount of time to resettle in a new, safe country.
How can I get involved?
Express your interest in joining a future CRISP group to support refugees and help build welcoming communities. We are currently gathering responses from individuals like yourself and assessing the availability and range of skills and capacities needed to form well-rounded sponsorship groups. Please fill out the form or reach out to Hannah Freeman.
Join the email list and receive the monthly CRISP newsletter with updates, stories and prayer needs.
Give to support NewHope CRISP groups. Your generosity will help provide practical assistance and friendship during the critical early months of refugee resettlement. Any funds not used for CRISP will go towards NewHope Community Care, extending our mission of generous care so that all may thrive.