About Us - Sobre Nosotros - El Refugio / The Refuge

About Us - sobre nosotros

English: El Refugio is a Christian organization that improves the quality of life for all in Sanford and Lee County, North Carolina by building bridges between transitioning immigrants and established residents through sharing, learning, and serving our community together while respecting cultural identities.

ESPAÑOL: EL REFUGIO ES UNA ORGANIZACIÓN CRISTIANA QUE MEJORA LA CALIDAD DE VIDA DE TODOS EN LA AREA DE SANFORD DEL CONDADO DE LEE CREANDO LAZOS ENTRE INMIGRANTES Y RESIDENTES ESTABLECIDOS A TRAVÉS DE COMPARTIR, APRENDER, Y SERVIR CONJUNTAMENTE, RESPETANDO SUS IDENTIDADES CULTURALES.

BIENVENIDOS ~ WELCOME

El Refugio is an organization that provides language and citizenship classes, family enrichment activities, legal information, and resource connections.
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El Refugio es una organización que ofrece clases de idioma y ciudadanía, actividades de enriquecimiento familiar, información legal y conexiones de recursos.

Dale clic al boton abajo para sabre sobre nosotros y nuestro equipo.

About Us - MAS Sobre Nosotros

Nuestras Clases-Our Classes!

If you are interested in any of the classes please click below.
Si esta interesado en alguna clase por favor haga clic al boton abajo.
Nuestras Clases - Our Classes
Ingles (English)
Espanol (Spanish)
Ciudadania (Citizenship)
Tutoria/Alfabetizacion (Tutoring/Literacy)
Some of our classes have moved online due to COVID-19
Nuestras clases estan en linea debido a COVID-19.

Nuestras Clases-Our Classes

Dona Ya! Donate Now!

Support El Refugio
Click the Donate Button below
(Dale Clic al boton de Donar)
Send checks payable to
(Mande su cheque al nombre de):
El Refugio
407 West Main Street
Sanford, NC 27330

Donate

Our Mission

To promote opportunities for interaction between cultures that encourage positive relationships based on sharing knowledge, hopes and experiences. To foster individual growth in Lee County by identifying people’s needs and talents, and finding the resources to develop them.

Nuestra Misión

Promover oportunidades para la interacción entre las culturas para fortalecer relaciones positivas basadas en el intercambio de conocimientos, esperanzas y experiencias. Fomentar el desarrollo de las persona en el Condado de Lee identificando sus talentos y necesidades, y encontrando los recursos para hacerlo.

English

Español

Our Team - Nuestro Equipo

Sandra Torres

Executive Director/Directora Ejecutiva
elrefugioed@gmail.com
Sandra Torres is a native of Sanford, NC where she was raised by her Mexican and Salvadoran parents. Growing up she was exposed to the richness of the Latinx cultures and the distinct challenges immigrant families face due to cultural and language barriers. Sandra’s vision to work towards change, inform, and empower the immigrant communities motivated her pursue a career engaging in community work. She graduated with a Bachelor in Social Work with a minor in Sociology from the University of North Carolina at Pembroke and a Master of Social Work degree from North Carolina State University. Sandra came to El Refugio in 2018 as a volunteer and later became Program Director where she engaged in teaching, grant writing, event coordination, community building, programming, and more. Previously she worked in domestic violence, rape crisis, social services, and as an ESL instructor/administrative personnel at Central Carolina Community College.

Program Coordinator/Cordinadora de Programas
elrefugioad@gmail.com
Vivi Quiles Colon is a native of Puerto Rico. She came to the United States as a Military spouse. Vivi has twelve years of experience in childcare, customer services and administration. She is passionate and dedicated to serving the immigrant and Latinex communities. Mrs. Colon currently works at the Fayetteville Justice For Our Neighbors as an administrative assistant. She helps with operations, translations, intake screenings and more. She also, recently, started work with El Refugio, where she is the Program Coordinator, alongside the Executive Director, she works to develop and manage the Childcare and Child Enrichment Program and Volunteer and Youth Programs. There, she also assists in events and language programs when needed.
El Refugio welcomes her aboard and look forward to her collaboration.

My name is Sandra Ruiz. I am Puerto Rican. I have been living in Sanford NC since August 2017. My first challenge was to learn English. I have been a student at El Refugio since I arrived. I was a member of El Refugio's Board of Directors. I currently work at Lee County Schools in the Migrant Education Program. I joined the staff team as the Resource Coordinator to help provide orientation of community resources and COVID-19 information to the immigrant community in Lee County.