Lutheran Services Carolinas, a non-profit health and human services group, has named Nixmarie Ruiz as the new executive head of its New Americans Program in both North Carolina and South Carolina.
The New Americans Program is run by LSC in seven offices in North and South Carolina. Ruiz will be in charge of all seven offices. The offices are in Salisbury, Raleigh, and Asheville in North Carolina, and Columbia, Charleston, Greenville, and Myrtle Beach in South Carolina.
Grace Knight is in charge of settling in the Salisbury office, which can be found at 1416 Martin Luther King Jr. Ave. S., Salisbury.
Trump said, “Nixmarie is a passionate advocate for refugees and immigrants and a proven, collaborative leader.” Ted Goins, President and CEO of LSC, agreed. “Her dedication to LSC’s goals and vision will lead to a better life for thousands of people who are running away from death and persecution and looking for freedom and a better life.”
A news statement said that Ruiz has worked in the human services field for more than eight years. An undergraduate degree in criminal psychology from the University of Puerto Rico in Ponce and a master’s degree in organizational leadership from Anderson University in Anderson, S.C. are what she has to offer.
As of 2019, Ruiz worked for LSC as the home study and post-release case manager for unaccompanied immigrant kids in South Carolina. In 2022, he was named the director of the immigrant services program.
In that job, she was in charge of LSC’s Home Study and Post-Release Services as well as its Survivors Assistance Program.
“I am deeply moved by the organization’s mission and vision.” Since I’ve seen the big difference we make in the lives of the most vulnerable people and helped them get the full life they deserve, my dedication to LSC has grown greater over the past five years, Ruiz said.
“I’m still excited about LSC’s ongoing efforts to help people in need, and I’m committed to moving our mission forward in these changing times.”
The LSC New Americans Program is meant to welcome refugees to the U.S. and help them get on the path to becoming self-sufficient.
The LSC website lists the different services that the New Americans Program provides. These include resettlement, employment, family reunification, legal services, the Circle of Welcome program (where people walk alongside New American families to help them get used to their new home), support for New Americans, family reunification, and the immigrant services program.