Finding itself at a crossroads in a changing funding landscape, in 2015 The Center for Survivors of Torture and War Trauma engaged our team to help find a partner to strengthen their infrastructure and broaden their reach.

The Center for Survivors of Torture and War Trauma (The Center) was founded in the early 1990s to support increasing numbers of refugees in our region arriving with post-traumatic stress disorder. In 2015, The Center was at a crossroads in a changing funding landscape, and they worked with our team to find a partner to strengthen their infrastructure and broaden their reach.

The Rome Group helped The Center determine what it was looking for in a partner organization, vetted potential partners, and facilitated a process to decide on the terms of the partnership. Ultimately, the Center’s Board approved a merger with Bilingual International Assistant Services (Bilingual International), a long-time collaborator. To help the merger process run smoothly, we convened a task force with representation from each organization to help provide oversight and negotiate the details and logistics of the partnership.

Since merging in April 2016, the partnership has produced stability for The Center’s programs, allowing them to continue to offer new Americans vital mental health services, complemented by Bilingual International’s wraparound services. The result is that more survivors of torture and war trauma are receiving a wider array of mental health services as they begin their new lives in this country, which was The Center’s goal as it began the search for a partner.