Resources for Sponsors and Community Stakeholders

Resources for Sponsors and Community Stakeholders

Newcomers resettling to the United States receive Cultural Orientation (CO) to learn about life in the United States. CO is a collaborative process that starts overseas at Resettlement Support Centers and continues in the United States with domestic CO providers. Domestically, local Resettlement Agencies and community members provide resettlement services to newcomers. This page includes teaching materials for sponsors and community stakeholders to use for CO delivery. 

A Community-Based Approach to Cultural Orientation 

Community members play an important role in delivering key Cultural Orientation (CO) messages. When community members contribute to the delivery of CO, we call it a community-based approach to CO. How community members support CO delivery depends on how often they provide CO. CORE divides CO providers into two groups: regular CO providers and one-time CO providers. Regular CO providers support the delivery of CO to many newcomers. One-time CO providers support the delivery of CO to one newcomer or one newcomer family; they teach CO only once. Catering specifically to the needs of sponsors, this page provides grab-and-go teaching materials for one-time CO providers.   

 

Photo Credit: Andrew Oberstadt /IRC

Defining Sponsors andCommunity Stakeholders

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What is the difference between a sponsor and community stakeholder?

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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 resources created specifically for sponsors.  

Before accessing any of CORE’s resources for CO delivery, sponsors should take CORE’s 35-minute course, A Community-Based Approach to CO. This course teaches sponsors basics about CO, helps you decide which resources to use for CO delivery, and shows you how to navigate the CO toolkit and Settle In digital properties. Register for the course now! 

Coming Soon: In 2025, using the content from CORE’s handout, A Two Directional Approach to CO, CORE will create part two of our new online learning pathway for sponsors. To stay up-to-date on CORE learning opportunities, new resources, and changes to Settle In digital properties, subscribe to CORE’s newsletter.  

The  CO Toolkit  is a grab-and-go resource that 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 CO on the go!

CORE’s newcomer-facing Settle In resources are integrated throughout the CO toolkit. Newcomers can access CORE’s multilingual Settle In resources through a website, app, and social media. Explore Settle In resources before introducing them to newcomers. This will help you answer their questions. Watch this video to learn more! Then, reference CORE’s step-by-step guides to learn more about playing videos from the Settle In website and completing lessons on the Settle In app.

The handout, a Two Directional Approach to CO, teaches that 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.   

The Road Ahead is a foundational domestic CO curriculum. This curriculum was not created specifically for sponsors. CO providers using this resource must dedicate time for preparation (10 hours) and facilitation (10-12 hours). Curriculum materials include translated slide decks, facilitation notes, and activity materials.  










Photo Credit: Andrew Oberstadt /IRC

Photo Credit: Andrew Oberstadt/ IRC
Photo Credit: Camilla Greenwell / IRC

Tips for Co-Sponsors

Co-sponsors collaborate with a local resettlement agency to sponsor newcomers. 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), co-sponsors generally do not facilitate a domestic CO curriculum more than once. As one-time CO providers, cosponsors should follow these onboarding tips to ensure successful delivery of CO:  

The CO Objectives and Indicators (CO O&Is) outline the topics and content covered in CO and ensure consistent messaging from overseas to domestic CO. The Overseas CO O&Is provide foundational information, and the Domestic CO O&Is build on that information. Review the CO O&Is to learn more about what information is covered in CO. Then, consider attending CO at the local Resettlement Agency (RA) to review the available teaching materials. With the local RA, determine who will deliver CO and the CO assessment.  

 

If the CO assessment indicates that newcomers did not demonstrate their knowledge of the underlying concepts in CO, 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 CO. Sponsors may use the relevant section of the Road Ahead- CORE’s foundational domestic CO curriculum, or CORE’s activity bank to review specific CO topics with newcomers.

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

Resources for Community Stakeholders

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

K-12 Educators

Law Enforcement

State Public Assistance Workers

Additional Resources