The Portland Refugee Support Group (PRSG) is dedicated to working with refugees & immigrants by empowering them to become independent and effective members of society through education, psycho-social support, and life skills training. We at PRSG understand the difficulties refugees & immigrants face trying to acclimate to a new life. We believe that with the right support, refugees & immigrants will adjust faster and be able to survive on their own in their new homes.

OUR focus

Our work focuses on four major components:​
*  Adult and child education, including tutoring and assistance with school work.
*  Community education about refugees through lectures, panels, media, etc.
*  Psycho-social support through social events to form community connections and to build social capital, and also through referrals for personalized counseling and mental health care.
*  Life skills training to increase refugees’ confidence and their ability to care for themselves, their family members, and their homes; and also to access public transportation, to succeed in work and school, etc.

OUR  PROGRAMS

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​            Dr. Omar Reda​

Mental health program
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prsg & project uNTANGLED

   PROJECT untangled was designed by dr. omar reda to tend to the psycho-social needs of traumatized population, including refugees and survivors of natural disasters, wars, and inter-personal violence.

   * UNTANGLED: the "art & play therapy" program

   Our "Art & Play Therapy" sessions for refugee children are an on-going, monthly program. Dr. Reda focuses on the psycho-social aspect of therapy. He works on helping refugee children, who may have suffered trauma in their lives, deal with their past and work on improving their present and future by expressing their feelings through art & fun activities.
       Check out our past Art & Play Therapy events!

   * UNTANGLED: RECLAIM YOUR NARRATIVE, TELL YOUR STORY

   We're looking for individuals and families who are willing to share the many aspects of their stories of forced migration, not only the challenges and struggles, but also the resilience and healing. Refugees from all faiths, ethnicities, and backgrounds are encouraged to participate. The goal is to get at least 1 adult (18 and up) and 1 minor (13-17) who can speak English, to be interviewed from each representative population.
   Each participant will be paid $25 for being part of the video. No identifiable information is required. If you are a refugee who is willing to share your story, or if you know any refugees that would fit into this criteria and are willing to be on camera, please send an email to Dr. Omar Reda: redaom@yahoo.com

tutoring refugees

   PRSG offers tutoring sessions to refugees, both families and individuals, adults and children, once per week. We focus on tutoring English to our client families, but we also help the children with their school work. Our volunteers work with the families in their homes or in a group setting. The goal is to help families improve and feel confident in their use of the English language to help them integrate into American society with greater success.

college prep for refugee students

   PRSG offers weekly tutoring sessions to high school refugee students. The overall goal of this program is to help students prepare for the college application process by improving their ACT testing and essay writing skills.The students work in small groups with a tutor and complete practice ACT exams, learn tips on test taking, and practice writing essays relating to college application writing prompts. Our hope is that every PRSG high school student will have the tools and skills necessary to get accepted to a four-year university upon high school graduation.

   mONTHLY CARE PACKAGES

   Our volunteers deliver donation packages, every month, to our refugee families.  These packages are filled with a variety of essential needs that refugee families can't go without, such as toiletries and cleaning supplies, etc. We continue providing these care packages until the families are self-sufficient. No one should go without the basic necessities of life! 

camp silah for the youth

   CAMP SILAH, of Project Untangled, is a summer camp for the youth, ages 8-18, of the Portland metropolitan area. It was launched in the summer of 2018 as a 3 day test run. It was such a huge success that we have decided to keep it going every summer. This camp blended refugee kids with non-refugee kids in a beautiful harmonious way and made the refugee kids feel like they belong to the Portland community. There were about 75 children who attended, a third of them were refugees.

Women's bake sales

   PRSG puts on bake sales in the Portland area every other month. The baked goods at these events are made by the refugees, and all the proceeds go to the refugee bakers. Our refugee ladies tell us how much they love these bake sales and how empowered they feel, especially that most of them don't have jobs, and they really appreciate the extra income for their household.
   Plus, we have many more programs throughout the year! Such as: food and toy drives, holiday gift boxes, potlucks, hosting soccer games & events for refugees in different countries, etc.