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New Community Center

The new community center is available on Thursdays from 6:30-8:30pm and Saturdays from 1pm-3pm at:

Foundation Communities/Trails at Vintage Creek
7224 Northeast Drive Austin, TX 78723
Follow the signs to the Leasing Center and the community center is located just behind there.

Capital Metro Bus Routes 300 and 37

MRC is on a mission to empower refugees towards self-sufficiency through education, community and reconciliation.

Current programs are focused on these 3 areas:

Education
MRC meets each week at our community center to offer the following educational opportunities:

Sewing
Our sewing programs meets on Saturday afternoons from 1-3pm and has become one of our most popular programs. Each week participants ranging in age and cultures come together to learn sewing basics and enjoy making clothing and accessories for themselves and their families. Refugee tailors from Congo are often leading classes on dressmaking and other sewing skills and all participants enjoy sharing what they have learned with one another.

Job Skills
Classes meet on Thursdays from 6:30-8:30pm and Saturdays from 1:00-3:00pm. Participants work one on one with volunteers to help develop a resume, search for jobs and practice interview skills.

Computer Literacy
Computer classes meet on Thursdays from 6:30-8:30pm and Saturdays from 1:00-3:00pm. Participants work one on one with volunteers to learn basic computer skills such as typing, email, internet and Word Documents. It is extremely important to learn some basic computer skills as almost everything including job applications are all online.

Transportation Resources
Tutoring is provided using the Texas Driving Manual to learn about the rules of the road. Focus is put on road signs, vocabulary and online practice tests are provided in order to prepare for the written driving exam. Until this program is funded we cannot provide any further driving instruction. If you would like to contribute to this program or help provide scholarships for refugees to attend TEA certified driving courses please contact us and let us know. Learning about the bus schedules and about biking resources such as bike routes and biking safety are also provided.

Children's Programs
Each Saturday from 1:00-3:00pm refugee children ranging in age from 3-10 participate in our children's program while their parents are engaged in MRC programs. Children practice reading, English, get help with their homework and play educational games. A great time is had by all each week.

Special Workshops
MRC brings educational workshops on a variety of topics to the MRC Center at least twice a month from 3:30-5:30pm. Workshops have ranged from furthering your education, starting your own business and other job resources available in the community.


Community
Our vision at MRC is to create a strong refugee community where participants are helping each other both within their own culture but across cultures as well. This happens each week at the MRC Center as those that have been here longer reach out to help those that are just arriving. We have watched individuals completely blossom out of their contact and support of the larger refugee community. MRC also hosts parties and cultural events to also increase the sense of community.

Reconciliation
As Albert Einstein once said “Peace cannot be kept by force. It can only be achieved by understanding.” It is with this spirit of understanding that we are working towards reconciliation amongst the refugee populations by offering Dialog Groups where participants can come together and share their stories, listen to one another and understand one another better. Two of our founders- Johnson Doe and Paul Tiah- are shining examples on how this type of work has great benefits. These 2 men were from warring communities in Liberia where they typically wouldn't’t have been friends. As beneficiaries of peace education and conflict management training in their home countries they were able to use these concepts to put their differences aside and since have become the best of friends and partners in helping other refugees achieve this same goal.