Saint's Place

At Saint’s Place, our mission is to “Welcome the Stranger” by helping resettle newly arrived legal refugees to Rochester, NY. For over twenty-five years, Saint’s Place has been assisting newly arriving refugees to settle in the Rochester community. Saint’s Place works together with Catholic Charities Family and Community Services and World Relief, the two local agencies with federal contracts for refugee resettlement in our region. We have the largest clothing closet in Rochester where each refugee chooses their own clothing appropriate for our climate and seasons. We furnish their apartments, provide new beds and bedding, household goods and small appliances. We give backpacks full of school supplies to refugee children and teenagers and provide two tutoring programs for refugees struggling with homework, but also help with filling out forms, writing a resume and studying for citizenship exams, and give scholarships for higher education. The Saint’s Place Refugee Educational Initiative began in 2018 through local fundraising. We saw the need for additional aid for refugees who have aged out of the public school system and are trying to gain the training or degree needed to obtain a good paying job with benefits for their families. Through our Educational Initiative Saint’s Place awards Scholarships for refugees who wish to pursue college or vocational training, laptops to refugees who are taking online ESL courses or attending college, and tools for refugee students who have finished their vocational training and have new jobs that require they own their tools. We have recently added driving lessons to our Educational Initiative. Research has confirmed that if a refugee can drive, their chances of securing respectable employment with benefits increases dramatically. It is another key step in acclimating to a new culture. Their level of confidence soars because they can drive family when necessary, for instance to a doctor’s appointments, attend key school meetings, take the family to local outings, and attend classes to improve language or enroll in college or vocational school. Refugees can now improves the quality of life for the entire family. We are in the fifth year of the Saint’s Place Educational Initiative. During this time, we have given 115 laptops and over $200,000 in scholarships. Nearly 200 refugee students have been aided in their pursuit of a higher education. We follow our student’s progress throughout the duration of their school/training and have been invited to graduations and celebrations of accomplishment. We currently have students attending classes at Monroe Community College, Nazareth, University of Rochester, OACES, ABC school of Driving, Canandaigua School of Driving, and more. Because of the generosity of our donors, we were able to add a new program in 2022. Many arriving refugees have large extended families living together, often with many young children. The cost of using laundromats has increased so much that it is financially out of reach for many families, leaving them washing all their clothing by hand. Saint’s Place is working with a local appliance store to purchase washer/dryer sets for large families and have them delivered and installed. This relatively small investment of $1,200 per family makes a huge difference in their lives. Over the last year, we have given twelve families new washer/dryers. For 25 years, Saint's Place has provided beds, furniture, clothing, tutoring, school supplies, and household goods to arriving refugees. Since our inception, we have assisted over 35,000 refugees. With your help we can continue ‘Welcoming the Stranger’, helping to ensure refugees have what they need to start over in their new community.

We focus on: Human Services, Health

Where we are: Monroe