what we do
Founded in 1918, the International Institute of New England (IINE) is one of the region’s longest established, largest, and most trusted non-profit social service organizations serving refugees and immigrants.
We create opportunities for refugees and immigrants to succeed through resettlement, education, career advancement and pathways to citizenship. Over the past three years, the number of refugees and immigrants that take part in our family reunification, education, skills training, job placement, and legal services programs offered in Boston and Lowell, Massachusetts, and Manchester, New Hampshire has more than doubled.
Today, our Unaccompanied Children’s Program is one of the largest in Greater Boston. Our work is critical to the growth of the region’s economy. Each year we place hundreds of well-trained and ambitious immigrants in jobs at companies in Massachusetts and New Hampshire.
Services
Welcoming and Resettlement
IINE resettles hundreds of refugees each year who are fleeing persecution and conflict in their homelands. Our work with refugees forms the basis of our continuum of service. We also support asylees who are in the United States seeking political protection after fleeing persecution. These services include our Unaccompanied Children’s Program, which reunites unaccompanied Central American children with family members or sponsors living in the United States.
Education
Our ESOL (English for Speakers of Other Languages) Program serves more than 700 students each year. The program offers English specific to job readiness and workplace etiquette, which equips students with the language skills and cultural knowledge needed to enter the workforce and advance their careers.
Employment Support
Critical to IINE’s mission is providing a pathway to durable self-sufficiency for refugees and new immigrants so they are able to build a foundation of support for themselves and their families. Each year, IINE trains and places over 650 refugees and immigrants into the Massachusetts and New Hampshire workforce. Additionally, our vocational training programs in Boston and Lowell, MA prepare students for careers in the hospitality and healthcare industries, which offer family-sustaining wages, good benefits, and opportunities for advancement.
Pathways to Citizenship
We specialize in family, humanitarian, and business immigration law as well as U.S. citizenship.