Program Description

The community agency aims to assist the refugee population of single mothers in Clarkston, GA.
Clarkston has a population of 14,000 people representing 57 nationalities, 90 languages, and 150
ethnic groups (Data USA, 2018). According to Data USA (2018), the median income in
Clarkston is $14,000/year, signifying a population of low socioeconomic status (SES). The
agency will collaborate with the existing Clarkston Community Center to offer effective career
counseling by also addressing needs related to spirituality, family life, language/resettlement, and
trauma-impact.

Needs
The needs of the single mother population in Clarkston are organized into four quadrants,
mirroring the core components of the program’s content. The four quadrants are family life,
career empowerment and support, language and resettlement, and trauma care. Spirituality is the
core of the model and is central to our program as well. The needs are also contextualized using
an adapted version of Myers, Sweeney, and Witmer’s (2004) Wheel of Wellness Model--a
holistic model of wellness and prevention across the lifespan.
a. Spirituality:
i. The importance of spiritual practices for overall health and wellbeing
ii. Resources for connecting to a faith community of your choice
iii. Connection to culture of origin
b. Family Life:
i. Family life education
1. Psychoeducation related to attachment theory and emotion
regulation
2. Process group related to implementation of emotion regulation
skills
ii. Interview skills
c. Career Empowerment and Support:
i. Child-care
ii. Budgeting
d. Language and Resettlement: This facet of the program involves collaborating
with local nonprofits already at work to address refugee needs related to
literacy resettlement
i. Professional clothing
ii. Transportation
iii. Technology
e. Trauma Care
i. Basic assessment regarding trauma impact
ii. Stabilization
iii. Exposure therapy to integrate traumatic narrative (i.e., EMDR)

Specific Objectives
The goal of this program is to serve as advocates for single, refugee mothers in the city of
Clarkston concerning education, family life, and career development support. By the time a
client is finished with the services at our agency, she will have experienced:
 1. An increase in knowledge regarding attachment and emotional regulation to foster family
stability and functioning
2. An increase in home-life skills (i.e., budgeting and job searching)
3. An increase in family-life skills (i.e., effective communication and conflict resolution) to
foster familial intimacy and support
4. An increase in connection with community resources (i.e., child-care, food drives, etc.)
5. A decrease in unemployment rates and the use of temporary government-assisted
programs
6. An increase in knowledge and utilization of community resources regarding technology,
professional dress, interviewing skills, and transportation services
7. An increase in connection to spirituality and culture of origin

Content
In order to achieve the preceding objectives, the staff will offer clients individual consultations
(i.e., individualized therapy services and case-by-case conceptualization for families’ specific
needs) as well as group services (i.e., group therapy, group classes regarding familial issues, and
group skill-building classes for career development). The following is our proposed content for
the program:
1. Spirituality: Clients will be initiated into the program via participation in 2-4 psycho-
educational group therapy sessions regarding:
a. The importance of spiritual practices for overall health and well-being
b. Diverse resources for connecting to a faith community of client’s choice given
that there are 150+ countries and 90+ languages represented in Clarkston
(Data USA, 2018)
2. Family Life: Clients are offered group therapy sessions for the psychoeducation and
implementation of skills related to attachment theory and emotional regulation
3. Career Empowerment and Support: Clients are offered classes for psychoeducation and
skill-building as well as support through advocacy based on the occupational injustices
refugees experience (i.e., going from a white-collar job in country of origin to either a
blue-collar job or unemployment). Components of this content include the following:
a. Skills Assessment:
i. What skills did the client acquire in her country of origin?
ii. What education did the client acquire in her country of origin?
iii. Based on current skills/education, what are appropriate career goals and
prospective jobs for the client?
b. Goal Setting:
i. Values Sort Cards
ii. Self-Directed Search (Holland & Messer, 2013)
iii. Long-term career objectives as children become more independent
c. Career Fair:
i. Connect clients with the prospective employers interested in providing
meaningful work for refugees
d. Interview and Resume Coaching
i. Coaching provided by professionals in the community (volunteer)
e. Technology
 i. Clients learn basics of computer-use for email, navigation of the internet,
etc.
f. Finance Skills
i. Classes taught by professionals in finance-related fields (volunteer) on
basics of budgeting and taxes
4. Language and Resettlement: Program partners will existing nonprofits in the area to
address clients’ needs related to the following:
a. Literacy
b. English-language classes
c. Resettlement/Housing
d. Transportation
e. Technology
5. Trauma Care:
a. Basic assessment regarding the impact of trauma
b. Work toward stabilization
c. Psychoeducation related to neuro-biological impact of trauma
d. Low-cost, evidence-based exposure therapy session to help process trauma
(i.e., Eye Movement Desensitization Therapy)
e. Therapy sessions offering skills for coping and resiliency (i.e., Cognitive
Behavioral Therapy and Dialectical Behavior Therapy)

Expected Outcomes
At the end of this program, clients will be able to:
1. Implement relational skills such as effective communication and conflict resolution
2. Understand effective skills for family functioning such as budgeting and utilizing
community resources
3. Have the opportunity for spiritual connection
4. Understand effective skills for career development
5. Recognize growth in English-speaking skills
6. Have referrals for more long-term trauma care as needed

Resources Needed
To carry out the program as designed, our team requires the following resources:
1. Child-care service: Clients can bring children and be able to participate in program
without interruptions
2. Technology equipment
3. Professional clothing: Agency partners with the organization Dress for Success Atlanta
for the purpose of acquiring and distributing professional clothing
4. Office space within the Clarkston Community Center
5. Volunteers for the following positions: administrative assistants, English tutors, Licensed
Professional Counselors (pro-bono work), physicians (pro-bono work), human resource
officers (salary supplemented through grant funding), and financial advisors
6. Donations from the community: An essential part of operations in order to provide
excellence for the women we service.
a. Operate as a 501(c)3 organization, meaning that all donations are tax-
deductible
 b. To be tax-exempt under section 501(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue Code, an
organization must be organized and operated exclusively for exempt purposes
set forth in section 501(c)(3), and none of its earnings may inure to any
private shareholder or individual. In addition, it may not be an action
organization, i.e., it may not attempt to influence legislation as a substantial
part of its activities and it may not participate in any campaign activity for or
against political candidates (IRS, 2018)
7. Collaborations with the following community resources:
a. Refugee Family Literacy
b. Clarkston Community Center
c. Georgia Refugee Community Website: Contains links to community events,
announcements, newsletters, community groups, open groups, and a list of service
providers
d. Dress for Success Atlanta
e. Friends of Refugees
f. Mercy Housing
The team consists of Directors Alison Dillon, Anna Varghese, Heather Baker, and Becca
Hamilton and a Board comprised of individuals with the following experience:
1. Manager of Workforce Development
2. Director of International Ministries
3. Management Consultant
4. Licensed Professional Counselor (GA)
5. Marriage and Family Therapist (GA)
6. Banker/Financial Analyst
7. Strategic Manager
8. Human Resources Director
9. Minster/Pastor
10. Clinical Instructor/Nurse/Physician
11. ESL Teacher GA Piedmont
12. District Manager
Promotion of agency will mainly come from Clarkston Community Center as women will be
referred mainly through this established organization (collaborate with executive director,
director of operations, and director of programs). Other marketing efforts include press; social
media; and informational pamphlets distributed to community centers, local apartment
complexes, and places of worship.

Methods of Evaluation
The evaluations of our program include both formative (conducted to improve the program) and
summative (draws conclusion about the overall worth of the program) evaluations. The data will
be collected through informal methods such as client interviews, questionnaires, and group
feedback as well as more formal methods such as records, standardized instruments, structured
observation and follow-up studies. The data will be analyzed through statistical analysis
software, financial advisement, board-member evaluation, and consultation with other experts in
respective fields. The knowledge, skills, attitudes, and behaviors that are to be evaluated include
the following:
 1. Staff: Multicultural competency, communication skills, general
helpfulness, empathy
2. Marketing: effective advertising, # of new clients, volunteer
recruitment
3. Finances: Cost-effective services, fundraising, budget, inventory
4. Clients: Success of job search, ESL development, family life skill-
building, trauma-care progress
More specifically, examples of our program’s on-going evaluation efforts include the following:
1. Clients will also be given the Post-Traumatic Growth assessment
before and after program participation as a means of tracking
whether wellness has improved.
2. All mental health professionals volunteering time and services will
be under ongoing supervision
3. Periodic assessment of collected data will be conducted by
individual board members four times/year
4. Follow up assessment with clients at 6-12 months to assess long-
term improvement/longevity of impact, solicit feedback for areas
of program improvement; what was helpful/unhelpful, what needs
are being overlooked, etc.
Roadblocks to evaluation include language barriers, Western cultural biases, lack of resources,
ineffective marketing, and inefficient utilization of resources. Evaluations will be used toward
necessary program revisions, including:
1. Minimization of bias
2. Increasing effectiveness based on data analysis
3. Board members continue to evaluate collected data 4 times/year
4. Limiting client population (i.e., age, educational status)
5. Reallocating budget needs
6. Changing marketing strategies
 References

Board Members. (2016). Retrieved March 30, 2018, from https://friendsofrefugees.com/board-

Clarkston Community Center. (2018). Retrieved March 30, 2018, from

Clarkston, GA. (2018). Retrieved March 30, 2018, from https://datausa.io/profile/geo/clarkston-

Dress for Success Atlanta. (2018). Retrieved March 30, 2018, from
https://atlanta.dressforsuccess.org/

Georgia Refugee Community. (2010). Retrieved March 30, 2018, from

Hattie, J. A., Myers, J. E., & Sweeney, T. J. (2004). A factor structure of wellness: Theory,
assessment, analysis, and practice. Journal of Counseling & Development, 83(3), 354-
364.

Holland, J. L., & Messer, M. A. (2013). John Holland’s SDS self-directed search. Lutz, FL:
Psychological Assessment Resources.

International Revenue Service. (2018). Retrieved March 31, 2018 from

Mercy Housing. (n.d.). Retrieved March 30, 2018, from

Myers, J. E., & Sweeney, T. J. (2004). The individual self: An evidence-based model of
wellness. Journal of Individual Psychology, 60(3), 234-244.

Refugee Family Literacy – Home. (2018). Retrieved March 30, 2018, from
https://www.mommyandmefamilyliteracy.com/