Refugee-assist.com

Check it out–Refugee-assist.com is a website that gives migrants access to a (well-informed!) chatbot. It is designed to provide general answers to questions that refugee/asylees/TPS/parolees and others may have, and in a variety of languages.

The creator of this website is a high school student, if you can believe that. Nayan Patel is a senior at Carey Academy in Raleigh, North Carolina. Development of Refugee-assist.com comes out of his family’s personal history (his grandfather came to the US as a refugee) and his own personal interest in programming.

Here is Nayan’s pitch:

Refugee Assist was created to provide what refugees often lack: information. Refugee resettlement agencies and other organizations have limited resources and often are unable to provide guidance on-demand or indefinitely to migrants. Our solution is a chatbot, similar toChat GPT that uses large language models to provide local information on legal services, education, job opportunities, and other services in 18 different languages. The information can also be personalized to the migrant’s unique experience and country of origin. Thus far, we have worked with multiple local refugee agencies in North Carolina and collaborated with academic institutions around the country to provide a real time resource for all refugees, asylees, and others admitted for humanitarian reasons who are attempting to resettle in their new home. 

If you’re interested in connecting with Nayan or assisting with this project–reach out. I’d be happy to share contact details.

-KitJ