About the COR Center

The Cultural Orientation Resource (COR) Center focuses on a critical element of refugee resettlement and integration, providing technical assistance regarding the orientation refugee groups receive about their new lives in the United States, either before their departure for the U.S. or after their arrival.

The COR Center builds on CAL's long history as a central resource on refugees and their resettlement needs, stretching back to 1975, the dawn of modern-day refugee resettlement in the United States.

The COR Center's mission is to increase awareness regarding the likely characteristics and needs of incoming refugee groups, as well as to facilitate culturally and linguistically appropriate orientation training for these newcomers to the United States. The COR Center accomplishes this through:

• the design of multimedia orientation resources and materials
• development of video and print resources regarding new refugee groups
• production of outreach material for use with local community members
• provision of skills development opportunities and technical assistance
• facilitation of information exchange between various partners in the resettlement community.

The COR Center works closely with the various stakeholders involved in refugee resettlement, such as U.S. resettlement agencies, overseas orientation programs, previously-resettled refugees, community-based organizations, mainstream social service providers, employers, volunteers, teachers, members of charitable organizations, and church and community leaders.

Housed at the Center for Applied Linguistics (CAL), the COR Center combines CAL's linguistic expertise, the cross-cultural and technical knowledge of COR's many consultants, and the field experience of refugee service practitioners.