Since the end of WWII the United States has admitted refugees and asylum seekers who have escaped some degree of trauma in their home countries and have come seeking safety in the U.S. This presentation will clarify the definition of a refugee and an asylum seeker. It will focus on the kinds of trauma they have experienced that caused them to become refugees or asylum seekers, the trauma they go through in the process of getting to the U.S., and the trauma of starting life over in a new country and culture. It will also focus on the resilience of many refugees and asylum seekers and how that resilience can be strengthened in communities.
Jennifer Riggs is a graduate of Bethany College in Bethany, WV, and Yale Divinity School in New Haven, CT. She is an ordained minister of the Christian Church (Disciples of Christ) who is now retired. Jennifer has worked in ministry with farm workers in Adams County in northeast Indiana, in prison ministry in Niantic, CT, as Director of the Student Y at Ohio Wesleyan University, and as Associate Minister of Downey Ave. Christian Church in Indianapolis.
For 31 years she worked as the Director of Refugee and Immigration Ministries at the headquarters of the Christian Church (Disciples of Christ) in Indianapolis. In that capacity she worked with her denomination’s congregations across the United States to resettle more than 30,000 refugees and to assist hundreds of persons with asylum or immigration issues. During that time she traveled to over 30 countries visiting refugee camps and meeting with officials from the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees. Jennifer also served over 10 years in various leadership positions with Church World Service, the ecumenical organization representing most Protestant denominations, which provides response to refugee, disaster, and development needs globally.
One CE hour (Indiana Professional Licensing Board) will be awarded to those who complete the training.
