"There is no greater sorrow on earth than the loss of one's native land."
-- Euripides, 431 B.C.
Refugees:
People who are forced to flee their countries of origin because of a well-founded fear of persecution due to race, religion, nationality, or membership in a particular social or political group.
Asylees:
People already in the United States who receive protected status and are unable to return home for the same reasons that refugees are unable to return home.
Today more than 20 million refugees, asylum seekers, and internally displaced persons are living with a very uncertain future. The Lutheran Family Services (LFS) Refugee & Asylee Programs are dedicated to helping these vulnerable individuals and families rebuild their lives by equipping them to achieve self-sufficiency within their first year in the United States and fostering integration into their new communities.
The LFS Refugee & Asylee Programs began resettling refugees in Colorado in 1978 in response to the wave of refugees arriving from Southeast Asia . Since then, LFS has resettled thousands of refugees from countries around the world , including Afghanistan, Bosnia, Colombia, Cuba, Ethiopia, Liberia, Russia, Somalia, Ukraine and Vietnam, just to name a few . Over the last year, the programs have served more than 900 clients from 40 countries, making it the largest such program in the region. The majority of individuals served by LFS reside in the Denver and Colorado Springs metropolitan areas, with others residing throughout the Rocky Mountain region, stretching as far as Southern Colorado, onto the Western Slope of Colorado, and as far north as Casper , Wyoming .
For additional information about our services, please call or e-mail us at:
Denver Office:
303-980-5400
Southern Colorado Office (Colorado Springs): 719-227-7571
Northern Colorado Office (Fort Morgan): 970-867-4388
Northern Colorado Office (Greeley): 970-353-5267
refugee@lfsco.org
