RefugeeOne

Gregory Wangerin, Executive Director and Ex-Officio Board Director

admin — Tue, 31 Jan 2012 18:49:50 +0000

Greg Wangerin, Executive Director, has devoted more than 27 years to humanitarian work around the world, serving refugees directly in Asia, Africa, Europe, and now in North America. He spent 21 years working as an international officer for the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR). UNHCR appointed Greg to nine separate duty stations, including postings in Kenya where he was participated in site development for the Kakuma refugee camp for people fleeing The Sudan, Pakistan where he revamped repatriation programs leading to the voluntary return of 380,000 Afghanis, and the Philippines where he supervised screening of and assistance for “Boat People” asylum seekers from Vietnam and ensured resettlement processing and pre-resettlement training for Amerasian children. Prior to joining UNHRC, Greg was a case manager for Lutheran Immigration and Refugee Service, the national resettlement arm of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America.

He joined Interchurch Refugee and Immigration Ministries in February 2002 and has been instrumental in leading the agency to its re-branding as Interfaith Refugee and Immigration Ministries and, finally, RefugeeOne. The re-branding efforts made the agency more welcoming to clients, donors and volunteers of all religious beliefs and have improved the agency’s ability to gain support from corporate funding bodies. Greg attended the University of Illinois at Chicago, and then graduated Phi Beta Kappa from Colorado State University. He completed the Non-Profit Executive Management Program from Northwestern University’s J.L. Kellogg School of Management.

In addition to his passion for helping people who have fled war, terror and oppression, Greg is the proud husband of a professional artist and father of two adult sons. He also spent the early part of his life involved in music. His educational credits include a minor in music; he plays the trombone and piano and in the early 1970s worked tuning, constructing and repairing pipe organs.

ABC Spirit of Giving Segment

admin — Tue, 24 Jan 2012 18:46:02 +0000

Shravya Raghunand, MSW

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Shravya Raghunand completed her Master of Social Work degree from University of Washington, Seattle. She has experience in community mental health research, clinical social work and community outreach, and is passionate about supporting oppressed communities and promoting social justice. Her interests in refugee work began as an intern at Asian Counseling and Referral Services. Now, she serves as a Primary Care Social Worker at Heartland International Health Center. In her spare time, Shravya supports RefugeeOne by facilitating our Women’s Groups for our African refugees.

Joanna Vergoth, LCSW

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Joanna Vergoth has been a practicing psychotherapist in private practice and contracting with agencies in the community for over 18 years. She has advanced training in psychoanalysis, Jungian dream exploration, and creative visualization coupled with gentle body awareness methods. Her areas of expertise include individuals traumatized by a variety of personal and cultural experiences: sexual and physical abuse, the events of 9/11 in New York, mutilation practices ritually preformed in other countries, childhood traumas produced by poverty and racism, as well as serious mental illness created by genetic environments. At RefugeeOne, Joanna will be using her expertise in culturally sensitive treatment to support our Somali, Ethiopian, and Eritrean women through individual and group therapy.

Matt Lozano

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Matthew Lozano is a second-year graduate student at Loyola University Chicago, School of Social Work and holds the Evelyn Dyba scholarship at the university. He holds a bachelor’s degree from the University of California, Santa Cruz and a Master’s degree from the University of Winchester, England. Additionally, Matt is a proud lymphoma survivor and has spoken on behalf of the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society. He is interested in both individual and group counseling with refugees, cancer fighters, and cancer survivors. At RefugeeOne, Matt uses his skills in working with survivors to facilitate a Burmese Men’s Group.

Caty Harris, MSW

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Caty Harris has a Master’s of Arts in Clinical Social Work from the University of Chicago with a specialization in counseling and mental health. She served in the United States Peace Corps from 2006 to 2008 in the Philippines, working with formerly imprisoned youth and with women in the sex industry. Her experience is in the areas family and social systems therapies, trauma recovery and resilience in different cultural environments, individual and group grief counseling for youth affected by domestic and gang violence, and humanistic psychology. Caty is interested in working with refugee populations, because of her experience and interest in working with trauma recovery and resilience in various cultural contexts. To put her experiences to great use, Caty facilitates a Burmese Women’s Group at RefugeeOne and mentors individual clients.

Hugh Cole, CADC

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Hugh Cole is a Certified Alcohol and Drug Counselor who has worked with HIV impacted populations since 1988. Hugh attended University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign and is currently a Master of Social Work candidate at Loyola University, Chicago. He began his clinical career at Howard Brown Health Center in Chicago, first as an intern and is currently a member of the Senior Behavioral Health Team as a Substance Abuse Counselor in the Recovering with Pride Program. He has also worked with homeless and underserved populations in supportive housing as a Case Manager at Heartland Alliance. Hugh is particularly interested in working with Refugees as it seems that the stressors experienced by refugee populations may manifest in behaviors that are contradictory to the value systems of individuals within the population, and that group process can be an effective structure in which to validate individual experience and explore more empowering behaviors. Hugh facilitates a Bhutanese Men’s Group to support our refugee men in their adjustment to Chicago.

About the CSWWS Staff

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The CSWWS program operates under the direction of the CSWWS Coordinator and a dedicated team of Case Managers, Interpreters/Outreach Workers, and clinical social work interns from Loyola University Chicago. Together, this group is able to identify those refugee clients who present a variety of mental health needs. The CSWWS staff is trained to provide mental health screenings and, with the guidance of the Coordinator, they are able to implement culturally-appropriate interventions. The interventions range from individual therapy to psychoeducation seminars open to the entire community, and the CSWWS staff work closely to coordinate this wide array of services.

Volunteer Clinicians

Hugh Cole, CADC

Caty Harris, MSW

Matt Lozano

Shravya Raghunand, MSW

Joanna Vergoth, LCSW

Loyola University Chicago, Clinical Social Work Interns:

Amanda Blowers, 1^st year intern

Leah Sennett, 1^st year intern

Alison Korte, 2^nd year intern

About Our CSWWS Psychiatrist

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Dr. Karlene Goodman, M.D. is the resident psychiatrist for RefugeeOne’s CSWWS program. She will be providing psychiatric evaluations and on-going clinical support for those clients who need this level of service. Dr. Goodman is a graduate of University of Illinois at Chicago Medical School and also holds degrees in English and Law. She has worked with refugee and immigrant populations since 1990 and continues to devote her practice to the same groups.

About the CSWWS Coordinator

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Dr. Aimee Hilado, PhD, LSW is the Coordinator of the CSWWS program. She has a Ph.D. in Social Work with Distinction and a Master of Science in Applied Child Development. In the CSWWS program, Dr. Hilado overseas daily operations for screening and referrals, provides direct therapeutic services to clients of all ages, and hosts the monthly health and wellness Orientation. In addition, she represents RefugeeOne in the various refugee health and mental health task forces, and provides clinical supervision to all student interns.

Dr. Hilado also serves as adjunct faculty at both Loyola University, Chicago in the School of Social Work. She teaches foundation coursework in clinical social work, courses in early development, and screening/assessment in early childhood. Dr. Hilado’s research and practice efforts have emphasized the importance of early development, social support, mental health, and culturally-sensitive practice with immigrants and refugees.