Coordinating Council for Refugees (CCFR)

We are CCFR

Coordinating Council for Refugees (CCFR) is a 501(c)3 non-profit organization founded in March 2022 to support individuals displaced by the Russian invasion of Ukraine. 

Our dedicated team of volunteers consists of immigrants from the former USSR, now US citizens. We understand firsthand the trials of being uprooted and forced to start over in a new country that speaks a different language and has different laws, customs, and culture. We know the heartache of leaving behind familiar lives and the resilience it takes to rebuild and find new purpose. 

At the onset of the war, CCFR focused on urgent needs: helping displaced individuals find safety and resources for immediate stability. We orchestrated an urgent humanitarian disaster response at the San Diego—Tijuana border and averted a humanitarian crisis. We engaged with and built consensus between US and Mexican governments, many NGOs, and an even larger number of individual volunteers. As a result, we supported over 25,000 displaced Ukrainians seeking to be reunited with their loved ones in the US. 

As the crisis in Ukraine and Russia continues, we shifted our focus to longer-term needs. With many team members directly sponsoring or working with displaced individuals and acting as their champions, we have intimate knowledge of existing and emerging needs. We advocate and help the population we serve to access benefits, gain skills to support employability and integration, and build community. We think of ourselves as puzzle masters, filling in the gaps between needs and available resources in support of our mission — To help displaced people live safe, productive, and purposeful lives in a new country.

Our Mission

To help displaced individuals live safe, productive, and purposeful lives in a new country.

Our Vision

We envision the council working as the main coordinating body for displaced individuals, bringing resources, expertise, and energy where they are needed most.

Our Values

Our organization is currently going through a process of defining our core values.