March 15, 2026 · Community · San Diego, CA
New Refugee Support Center Opens in City Heights
A state-of-the-art refugee and immigrant support center opened its doors in City Heights this week, bringing together 12 nonprofit organizations under one roof to provide comprehensive services to the more than 3,000 refugee families resettled in San Diego County each year. The facility, named the San Diego Welcome Center, represents a $22 million investment in what organizers describe as a "one-stop shop" for the complex and often overwhelming process of building a new life in America.
The 35,000-square-foot center, located on University Avenue in the heart of City Heights — one of the most ethnically diverse neighborhoods in the United States — consolidates services that were previously scattered across dozens of locations throughout the county, forcing newly arrived families to navigate an unfamiliar city to access basic support.
Services in 15 Languages
The Welcome Center provides services in 15 languages: Arabic, Dari, Farsi, Somali, Swahili, Burmese, Karen, Kinyarwanda, Kirundi, Spanish, Haitian Creole, Pashto, Tigrinya, Ukrainian, and English. Every service desk is staffed by multilingual case managers, and the center employs 45 certified interpreters who can provide real-time translation for specialized appointments.
"Language is the first and biggest barrier for every refugee family," said Maria Castillo, executive director of the International Rescue Committee's San Diego office, which serves as the center's lead agency. "When a mother can walk in and explain her family's needs in her own language, everything changes. The fear drops. The trust builds. The healing begins."
The center also features a digital literacy lab with 40 computer stations where newcomers can learn to navigate essential American systems — online banking, healthcare portals, school enrollment, public transit apps — with instruction available in all 15 languages.
Legal Aid and Immigration Services
The center's legal services wing houses attorneys and accredited representatives from three organizations who provide free immigration legal assistance, including asylum application preparation, work permit renewals, family reunification petitions, and naturalization support. The legal team has capacity to handle 2,500 cases per year — a significant expansion from the roughly 800 cases the organizations collectively managed from their previous separate locations.
"Consolidating our legal services has been transformative," said immigration attorney Daniel Reyes. "Previously, a family might need to visit our office for immigration help, then travel across town for housing assistance, then another location for their children's school enrollment. Now we can handle everything in one visit, which is especially critical for families who don't have reliable transportation."
Job Training and Employment Programs
The employment services floor includes a job training center with classroom space for 120 students, a commercial teaching kitchen for food service certification, a healthcare simulation lab for certified nursing assistant training, and a workshop for construction trades apprenticeship preparation. These programs are designed to help refugees obtain marketable credentials within 90 days of arrival.
The center has established hiring partnerships with 85 local employers, including UC San Diego Health, Sharp Healthcare, Marriott, Amazon, and several local construction firms. A dedicated job placement team works with each participant to match their prior professional experience — many refugees were teachers, engineers, healthcare workers, and business owners in their home countries — with appropriate opportunities in San Diego's job market.
"We had a cardiac surgeon from Syria driving for a rideshare company because he didn't know how to navigate the medical licensing process," said workforce development director Amina Hassan. "Our team is now helping him study for his boards. That's the kind of talent this city is leaving on the table when we don't invest in newcomer integration."
Family and Youth Programs
The Welcome Center includes a children's wing with after-school tutoring, homework help, youth mentorship, and trauma-informed counseling. A separate family wellness area provides prenatal care navigation, parenting support groups, and connections to WIC and other nutritional assistance programs.
A community gathering space on the ground floor serves as a cultural hub, hosting weekly community meals, holiday celebrations from represented cultures, English conversation circles, and information sessions on topics ranging from tenant rights to earthquake preparedness.
Funding and Partnerships
The center's construction was funded through a combination of federal refugee resettlement grants ($8 million), state immigrant integration funds ($6 million), San Diego County contributions ($4 million), and private philanthropy ($4 million), led by a $2 million gift from the Price Family Foundation. Annual operating costs of approximately $6.5 million are covered through a blend of government contracts, foundation grants, and individual donations.
San Diego County Supervisor Terra Lawson-Remer, who attended the opening ceremony, called the center "a statement of who San Diego is and who we aspire to be." The county resettles more refugees per capita than nearly any major metropolitan area in the United States, a tradition dating to the waves of Vietnamese, Cambodian, and Laotian refugees who arrived in the 1970s and 1980s.