Community Partnerships
Virginia Tech faculty founded the Virginia Consortium for Refugee, Migrant, and Displacement Studies in 2019 as a statewide collaboration among universities and community partners. The consortium aims to inform research projects based on community needs, while providing service providers with tools for practice and assessment.
The Center for Refugee, Migrant, and Displacement Studies partners with the Blacksburg Refugee Partnership, a nonprofit organization committed to hosting refugee families in the area. The center has hosted several events to welcome new community members. In addition, many undergraduate and graduate students and faculty members across Virginia Tech volunteer with the Blacksburg Refugee Partnership.
As part of its collaboration with the Blacksburg Refugee Partnership, the center is also conducting an oral history project funded by Voice of Witness, in which community members can record their stories and participate in a number of arts, writing, and music activities.
To complement this outreach, the center partners with the Moss Arts Center to engage newly resettled families through the arts and music.