In September 2005, Episcopal Migration Ministries, Lutheran Immigration and Refugee Service and Church World Service approached the Bishop of the Episcopal Diocese of Los Angeles, The Right Rev. J. Jon Bruno, and asked him to sponsor a Diocesan resettlement office. The Bishop agreed and appointed The Rev. Pam Tyler as Executive Director and Ms. Anna Baghdassarian, with over 30 years of refugee resettlement experience, as Program Director. Bishop Bruno also provided office space to begin the program.

By the end of 2005, the Interfaith Refugee and Immigration Service (IRIS) began resettling its first clients. During that first year, the office placed approximately 500 refugees from around the world in the Los Angeles six county area. In 2007 the numbers jumped to 1,350 and last year, 2008, we served almost 1,500 people. The Department of State advised us to expect approximately 1,400 clients during 2009.

In our first four years, IRIS has expanded to include a multilingual staff of thirteen people. In addition to our basic resettlement services, we currently have a food pantry for newly arrived refugees on Friday mornings and will be starting ESL (English as a Second Language) and Work Development classes in the near future.