Each week, SDRT creates space for over 300 people to come together and support one another. These connections often extend far beyond their initial year together. Tutors, students, and staff leave feeling hopeful and better equipped to navigate their challenges proving SDRT doesn’t just serve the community — it creates community.
Our Impact
Fulfilling a Vital Need for Refugee Students
150
SDRT serves 150 students each week
$40,000
SDRT has awarded over $40,000 in scholarships since 2020
30+
City Heights residents speak more than 30+ languages and 80 dialects
$1M
SDRT has provided over $1 million dollars in free tutoring since 2009
01. Our Impact In Action
They see themselves in each other.
A tutor and her student, both with families from the same part of the world, find themselves at the same desk, each growing from the experience. As a child of Cambodian refugees, volunteer Sopyda understands the importance of opportunity and believes in education as the way forward. With aspirations of joining the medical field, she shows up weekly at San Diego Refugee Tutoring for one particular first grader named Juliet. Juliet’s family fled persecution in war-torn Myanmar (Burma) only a few years ago and now Juliet has a trusted tutor to help her succeed in a new country. They see a lot of themselves in each other, and inspire each other to keep striving.
02. Our Impact In Action
“With the help of SDRT, I was able to excel.”
Since arriving in the US in first grade, Paw Say hardly missed a week of tutoring at SDRT. The academic support she received empowered her to give back to the SDRT community and become a tutor for the next generation of students. Paw Say now attends a four-year university and is a proud recipient of the SDRT Jodi Maroney Scholarship.
“Immigrating to the US as a refugee was a major shift. I constantly felt like I was behind… I wanted to make my parents proud. I wanted to be successful given that they risked their lives in order to come to America. With the help of SDRT, I was able to excel in my education.” – Paw Say
03. Our Impact In Action
Going Above and Beyond Tutoring
With a PhD in Marine Biology and lived experience as an immigrant, Anke brings a wealth of knowledge and kindness to SDRT. Anke began supporting one kindergarten student in 2018–and hasn’t stopped. In fact, she has gotten to know her student’s entire family and became a mentor and friend. When one of the teen students asked for help signing up for a club soccer team, Anke immersed herself in the world of competitive youth soccer and regularly arranges transportation to and from matches. Anke was also instrumental in helping her original student, now in middle school, enroll in the University of San Diego BiGI program that leads to a full-ride scholarship. Anke, a volunteer who started as a tutor for SDRT, helped change the future for an entire family.
04. Our Impact In Action
Helping the Next Generation
Habon entered our country as a refugee and was placed into a 7th grade classroom with little English proficiency and few academic supports. That is when Habon joined the SDRT community where she received English support, help with her homework, and mentors to help navigate a new country. Habon graduated high school, was awarded the SDRT Jodi Maroney Scholarship multiple years in a row and is our first SDRT college graduate. She received her Bachelor’s degree from San Diego State University. We are proud to have recently hired Habon as a Family Academic Liaison for SDRT, where she can help the next generation of newcomers thrive in a new country.
From Our Executive Director
I have vivid memories watching one particular movie over and over as a 7-year-old child. It was a Disney Sunday Night movie based on a true story about a Cambodian girl whose family escaped war and came to America. This refugee family moved in with an American family for a year and learned “all things American” such as the joys of pink spongy hair rollers and tall bunk beds. The little girl went on to win the spelling bee at her new school in America. I was touched by this story and that little girl’s courage to restart—and thrive—in a very foreign land. It wasn’t long before I began teaching English to kids just like this girl who had escaped Cambodia.
In 2000, I became a teacher in City Heights, one of the most diverse neighborhoods in the country, home to a large refugee and immigrant population in San Diego County. My eyes were opened to the many students who had significantly less privileges yet were expected to produce the same outcomes as their wealthier American peers in the same school district. I knew my students had the same potential as their peers in more resourced communities. But I also knew they needed far more support. I asked myself how these kids would stay motivated when they were often unable to understand much of what was being taught in school. I worried about how their educational gaps would be filled.
For the last 16 years, San Diego Refugee Tutoring has been doing just that—supporting students of refugee background who are not given enough support in school. It is an expansive effort of over 150 adults who rearrange busy schedules to show up for their students each and every week. The walls are broken down as students and tutors with different socioeconomic, religious, and cultural backgrounds find ways to connect and form community. And, with this consistent support, we see growth in our kids’ academics and confidence.
At SDRT, students are welcomed by Americans such as you and me. Our kids feel seen and loved. The need has never been greater. Please consider joining the SDRT community, whether you live near or far. Consider giving your time, resources and talents by volunteering or donating today.
With hope,
Melissa Phillips, Co-Founder and Executive Director of San Diego Refugee Tutoring