Stephanie Livigni, Executive Director of Bridge Refugee Services, is this month’s speaker at Sewanee’s Lunch and Learn program held in Convocation Hall on Monday, June 26, from noon to 1 p.m. The session is open to the community and to alumni. For those not able to attend in person, the meeting will be made available via Zoom. Registration ($10 per session or $30 for the year) can be made in person at the event.

Bridge Refugee Services was founded in Knoxville in 1982 and a branch office was opened in Chattanooga in 1996. In the past 10 years, Bridge has resettled more than 2,400 refugees from Africa, Southeast Asia, Eastern Europe, Central and South America, and the Middle East. Over the past year a significant portion of its activity has been resettling Ukrainian war refugees (parolees in government jargon) in East Tennessee.

Once refugees have been approved by the various federal agencies for travel, the U.S. State Department’s Bureau for Population, Refugees and Migration program coordinates admission of refugees and their allocation to specific cities with local resettlement agencies—such as Bridge. This process happens through the auspices of nine national agencies, part of the unique public-private partnership that provides services for refugees across the country. Bridge partners with Episcopal Migration Ministries in this reception and placement process.

Sewanee has existing ties with Bridge via internships in its Chattanooga office, and last year the Rotary Club of Monteagle-Sewanee arranged a $25,000 grant from the Rotary Foundation to help Bridge assist Ukrainian war parolees resettle in East Tennessee.