Resources for Sponsors and Community Partners

Resources for Sponsors and Community Partners

Cultural Orientation teaches newcomers about life in the United States. It is a collaborative process that starts overseas at Resettlement Support Centers and continues in the United States at the Resettlement Agency. With new resettlement pathways, community members also play an important role in delivering key Cultural Orientation messages. This page provides resources for community partners and sponsors, including materials to use with newcomers. 

A Community-Based Approach to Cultural Orientation 

Community members including sponsors (e.g., co-sponsors, remote placement community partners, private sponsor groups, and sponsor circles) and community partners play an important role in delivering key Cultural Orientation messages. When community members contribute to the delivery of Cultural Orientation, we call it a community-based approach to Cultural Orientation. This page provides resources for community members who do not facilitate a domestic CO curriculum (i.e., the Road Ahead – CORE’s foundational domestic CO curriculum) for newcomers on an ongoing basis. Instead, sponsors and community partners should use the grab-and-go resources on this page. These resources provide instruction on how to integrate Cultural Orientation throughout your service provision and do not require the editing or printing of additional materials. 

Photo Credit: Andrew Oberstadt /IRC

Defining Sponsors and Community Partners

IMAGE CAROUSEL

What is the difference between a sponsor and community partner?

Slide Content

Resources for Sponsors

Once you complete the mandatory trainings required to be certified and serve as a sponsor, you should prepare to welcome newcomers by reviewing CORE‘s CO toolkit and cultural exchange activities:

CO Toolkit for Sponsor: This grab-and-go resource teaches CO providers to incorporate key CO messages into the early resettlement services they are already providing, such as enrolling children in school or applying for health insurance. This resource does not require the editing or printing of additional activity materials.   

Sponsors can experience cognitive overload when preparing to welcome newcomers. To avoid information fatigue, do not read this toolkit from start to finish. Instead, before providing a service, review and print the relevant activity instructions from the toolkit to provide Cultural Orientation on the go!

 

Cultural Exchange Activities: Cultural Orientation (CO) is two-directional. Community members have a responsibility to teach newcomers about life in the United States and to learn about the culture and values of their new neighbors. This resource offers quick and easy-to-use ideas that prepare sponsors to actively take steps to learn about a newcomer’s values and encourage them to honor and preserve those values.  

Community members should review and share CORE’s newcomer-facing Settle In resources. The term newcomer includes refugees, Special Immigrant Visa (SIV) holders, and humanitarian parolees. Newcomers can access CORE’s multilingual Settle In resources through a website, app, and social media.

  • The Settle In website has hundreds of resources including videos, podcasts, and fact sheets in more than 10 languages.
  • The Settle In app has short videos, interactive lessons, and badges to reward and track learning progress. Download from the Apple Store or Google Play.
  • CORE manages two Facebook pages: Settle In (available in Dari, Pashto, and English) and Settle In for Ukrainians (available in Ukrainian and Russian for Ukrainian Humanitarian Parolees). Through Settle In Facebook, users can receive up-to-date information, send direct messages, receive in-language support for their questions, and attend live events.

Learn more by visiting the Settle In website.

Sign up for CORE’s newsletters to receive information about new resources and trainings. 

Tips for Co-Sponsors

Co-sponsors sponsor newcomers in collaboration with a local Resettlement Agency. Co-sponsors are not responsible for providing all early resettlement services. Co-sponsors will provide some early resettlement services and the local Resettlement Agency will provide some services. When responsible for providing Cultural Orientation, co-sponsors generally do not facilitate a domestic CO curriculum on an ongoing basis. Follow these onboarding tips to ensure successful delivery of Cultural Orientation:  

Review the Cultural Orientation Objectives and Indicators (CO O&Is) to learn more about required Cultural Orientation topics. Then, consider attending Cultural Orientation at the local Resettlement Agency to review the available Cultural Orientation curriculum and materials. With the local Resettlement Agency, determine who will deliver Cultural Orientation and the Cultural Orientation assessment.  

 

If the Cultural Orientation assessment indicates that newcomers did not demonstrate their knowledge of the underlying concepts in Cultural Orientation, then create a plan to address the newcomers’ needs. With the local Resettlement Agency, determine who will ensure newcomers learn the essential information and skills taught in domestic Cultural Orientation. Sponsors may use the relevant section of the Road Ahead- CORE’s foundational domestic CO curriculum, or activity bank to review specific CO topics with newcomers.

Use the CO toolkit to integrate key Cultural Orientation messages into the early resettlement services that the co-sponsor team is responsible for. Use the Cultural Orientation activities checklist to track which activities group members facilitate. 

Resources for Community Partners

The Community Partner fact sheets support educators, law enforcement, and state public assistance staff in incorporating key Cultural Orientation messages in their service provision.  The fact sheets include tips for effective service delivery, example Cultural Orientation messages relevant to the community partner, and an example activity showing how community partners can incorporate these key Cultural Orientation messages into interactions with newcomers. While the resources contain general information for each service provider, community partners may want to add community-specific information and resources.  

K-12 Educators

Law Enforcement

State Public Assistance Workers

Additional Resources