Syria is considered by the United Nations as one of the worst humanitarian crises of our lifetime, with over 6.6 million refugees worldwide and 6.7 million people internally displaced. In 2013, the U.S. State Department’s Bureau of Population, Refugee, and Migration announced that Syrian refugees would be resettled in the United States. Suzanne Akhras, SCN’s Founder and Executive Director, put out a call to action to her community and started to bring awareness about what refugee resettlement entails in the United States.

The news came that the first refugee family arrived in Chicago in January of 2015 and Syrian Community Network was born. Initially, SCN matched refugee families with mentors who could help them navigate new systems, language, and culture. And donations largely went towards direct rental and food assistance.

SCN began formalizing programming for families in 2017 with Case Management services. In 2018, the Education program began serving youth. And in 2019, we started our Immigration program to offer free legal services to community members. These programs seek to meet the evolving needs of our community. Learn more about each program under the Programs tab.