Integrated Refugee and Immigrant Services of New Haven (IRIS)

Enhancing communications systems for improved organizational efficiency and outreach

In 2019, DFA worked with the Integrated Refugee and Immigrant Services of New Haven, “a non-sectarian, independent nonprofit refugee resettlement agency that has welcomed more than 5,000 refugees to Connecticut since 1982.” IRIS aims to provide a haven for refugees and immigrants. DFA and IRIS collaborated to help IRIS find new, reliable ways to reach their clients and maintain important channels of communication to disseminate vital information. DFA found that IRIS exhausted already busy full-time staff attempting to reach clients already settled in the community, and, after an a site visit and interviews with IRIS employees, decided to tackle: How can we enhance IRIS’ communications system toward improved organizational efficiency & impactful community outreach? The IRIS team decided to focus on designing more “relatable” IRIS community events- giving clients a voice in the activities they participate in, and to plan to introduce a dedicated event planning liaison position to work in conjunction with community representatives.