Refugee Buddy
Refugee Buddy is a new, simple way that you can welcome people to your community who are from other countries and cultures by showing them support as they rebuild their lives.
Why is this important?
When we move house, it's hard to figure out such things as how best to fit in. It's even tougher for a family who have spent years in transition from lives at risk, and who now are finally settling to a new place where they hope to find some peace of mind and a better way of living.
Who can be a Refugee Buddy volunteer?
The Refugee Buddy program connects volunteer people locally with new residents to their community. Refugee Buddy volunteers can be a family, a couple, a local group such as a footy team, club or school students.
What kind of personal commitment?
There are varying levels of participation depending on your available time and life/work situation. Typically we see three levels of support as:
- Remote support by phone and/or email;
- Short personal meet-ups within the local community at shopping malls and points of interest; and
- Longer, shared outings to surrounding areas.
Your involvement can be as simple as initially welcoming a refugee person or family to your community and helping to introduce them to the basics we all need: shopping, banking, their faith community.
It can also be a longer term ongoing relationship of support: helping them adjust to a new cultural context while being respectful of their traditions and values.
What’s in it for me?
As with many forms of volunteering, through the Refugee Buddy experience you might discover you get even more than you give. It is an opportunity for you to experience new ways of seeing your own community; of connecting with new people; of expanding your horizons.
Core values: What do we stand for?
- A warm welcome
- Personal relationships
- Sharing cultures
- Promoting understanding
- Local knowledge
How do I get involved as a Refugee Buddy?
It's simple. Sign up using the form on this site, to tell us little about you and how you are prepared to help. When you are matched, you'll be sent an email by a local community or service organisation.