Jesuit Refugee Service/USA is proud to present our 2017 Annual Report. 2017 was a year of unprecedented response from JRS supporters, and we are thrilled to share a summary of your impact.

Click here to read Greater: JRS/USA 2017 Annual Report

2017 was a year filled with challenges for refugees: hateful rhetoric; fewer refugees admitted into the United States the; protected status of migrants revoked; and more war and conflict spurring further displacement. But, as stated in the Annual Report by Joan Rosenhauer, JRS/USA Executive Director, “our supporters responded in a greater way than ever before. 2017 was the year that you took action – sharing your resources, advocating to your legislators, and sharing stories of refugees with your networks and communities. Because of your responses, we were able to send more resources directly to JRS projects around the world than ever in our history.”

Some of the projects highlighted in the report include:

• Through the JRS/USA’s Detention Chaplaincy Program non-citizens detained by the Department of Homeland Security in five federal detention centers received pastoral, legal, and religious assistance. In 2017, JRS provided more than 106,784 services to 11,384 migrants through this program. JRS’s chaplaincy work focuses on the dignity of each detainee, offering opportunities to not only worship and practice religion, but find hope and healing. Knowing a chaplain will sit with someone who is otherwise alone, frightened, and in many ways powerless, reiterates that person’s basic value as a human being.

• Education is a life-saving intervention. JRS is committed to a five-year effort called the Global Education Initiative (GEI) to expand our educational programs to help refugees and displaced individuals. We believe that education is a vital component to end suffering and to help refugees become self-sufficient. Two years into the campaign, we have increased the number of refugees we serve in education by 40,000 and anticipate reaching our goal. JRS/USA has raised over $7.8 million towards this effort, including $1 million for secondary education in Africa and more than $2 million from the United States Government for our work in Chad.

• The 2017 Georgetown Executive MBA program cohort mobilized resources within their network and among their friends and family to raise $17,426 for JRS/USA’s pre-primary education. They ran a campaign to solicit donations by creating a campaign website and sharing impactful refugee stories. The campaign was a way for the cohort to respond to a critical issue for the Society of Jesus and the world. The GEMBA cohort’s goal was to raise awareness in their school and throughout their community, leave a legacy, and exercise a commitment to social transformation that they were learning in the classroom.

We are pleased to share our 2017 annual report, which catalogs the valuable initiatives that JRS/USA friends and supporters have enabled us to undertake this past year to help refugees attain protection, opportunities, and participation.

You can click here to download the report and to visit the Annual Report section of our website. The report will also be sent to JRS/USA supporters by mail in the coming weeks.

Thank you for being part of our JRS/USA family and for generously responding to a greater call to serve others.