SR0993 103RD GENERAL ASSEMBLY

SR0993 LRB103 40694 ECR 73470 r

SENATE RESOLUTION

WHEREAS, The members of the Illinois Senate wish to congratulate the Immigrant Family Resource Program (IFRP) for its 25 years of service to our State's immigrant and refugee families; and

WHEREAS, IFRP is comprised of a partnership consisting of the Illinois Department of Human Services, the Illinois Coalition for Immigrant and Refugee Rights, and 65 partnering community organizations throughout our State; and

WHEREAS, IFRP connects immigrant and refugee families to valuable services as they move toward economic self-sufficiency, including case management, public benefits, translation, interpretation, and financial assistance; and

WHEREAS, IFRP serves the full diversity of our State's immigrant and refugee population, providing assistance in 59 languages, including Spanish, Polish, Arabic, Hindi, Urdu, Chinese, Korean, Vietnamese, Pashto, Ukrainian, Burmese, and French; and

WHEREAS, IFRP assists over 20,000 immigrants and refugees each year; and

WHEREAS, IFRP began in 1999 as a State initiative responding to confusion and a lack of information in the midst of federal cuts to public benefit eligibility for thousands of immigrants lawfully present in the United States who had not yet become U.S. citizens; and

WHEREAS, IFRP has provided crucial outreach, education, and application assistance for immigrants and refugees amid changing and often confusing policy changes regarding health care access, nutritional assistance, income support, and other needs; and

WHEREAS, IFRP has used a successful model of working with trusted community-based partners that immigrant and refugee families often otherwise rely upon and trust for information, education, and support services; and

WHEREAS, IFRP's network has proven nimble and resilient in responding to emerging needs, such as the need for culturally and linguistically accessible programming during the COVID-19 pandemic and the arrival of Syrian refugees in the 2010s, Afghan and Ukrainian refugees in the 2020s, and, most recently, asylum seekers transported from the southern border since August 2022; therefore, be it

RESOLVED, BY THE SENATE OF THE ONE HUNDRED THIRD GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF ILLINOIS, that we congratulate the Immigrant Family Resource Program (IFRP) for its 25 years of service to our State's immigrant and refugee families in assisting them on their path to self-sufficiency and integration into our State's economy and community.