Refugees coming to Northern Nevada
By Julia Ritchey, KUNR
The U.S. State Department has greenlighted a Northern Nevada nonprofit to help resettle refugees escaping hotbeds of conflict around the globe beginning this fall.
Carina Black, executive director of the Reno-based Northern Nevada International Center, says their application to become an official resettlement agency was approved in February. They’ve since been laying the groundwork, and building a stakeholders’ network, before those first few families arrive.
Black says initially about two families — approximately 10 people — could arrive by September. For the federal fiscal year running October 2016 through 2017, they’ve asked to resettle at most 75 refugees.
All refugees relocating to Reno will go through a vigorous, federal screening process, which can take between 18-24 months.