Catholic Charities of West Tennessee Celebrates World Refugee Day

June 29, 2011 - PRLog -- Memphis, TN –  This past Saturday, over 200 refugees and supporters of Catholic Charities of West Tennessee (CCWTN) gathered at Christian Brothers University for the annual celebration of World Refugee Day.

The day featured music, dancing and food from India, Burundi, Bhutan, Somalia and Kenya along with a proclamation from Mayor AC Wharton, Jr.’s office recognizing Carolyn Tisdale, our Executive Director, for her years of service in helping to resettle refugees in the Memphis area.

Refugees arrive in Memphis and other cities from all over the world and typically are fleeing war, genocide, human trafficking and other threats to an individual or family’s safety. Refugees arrive with the full knowledge and support of the United States government and with the assistance of the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB). CCWTN resettles approximately 200 refugees each year, and since the end of the Vietnam War, has resettled over 7,000 refugees into our community.
CCWTN is the social services arm of the Catholic Diocese of Memphis. It is one of the largest nonprofit, multi-social service providers in the Mid-south with special emphasis in the areas of homelessness, refugee resettlement and emergency services.

To learn more, please contact our Director of Refugee & Immigration services, Mrs. Vinodini Jayaraman at vinodini.jayaraman@acc.cdom.org or (901) 722–4714.