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IRP is one of 150 local nonprofits sharing in $30 million through Cummings Foundation’s grants program. Our organization was selected from 715 applicants. We will receive $45,000 over three years to help resettle refugees. Thank you, Cummings Foundation!
Read about our partnerships in welcoming the latest family from Afghanistan
in The Local News, July 3, 2024.
Building community support for local refugee and immigrant families on their way to independence and self-sufficiency.
Meet Our Team
Lynn Lenhart, President
Meredith Joss, Vice President
Dan Boone, Treasurer
Joan Best, Clerk
Kim Dunne, Director
Glenn Gibbs, Director
Mark Godin, Director
Michelle Randazzo, Director
Donna Seibert, Director
Nancy Smith, Director
Anne Carroll
Kate Harlow
Peter Johnson
Diane Young
Lynn Lenhart
“Being a part of the IRP from the beginning has been inspiring, challenging and rewarding. I have forged friendships with newly arrived people from Iraq and Afghanistan and with the many people in Ipswich who make up the IRP network of volunteers. Join the IRP and change lives!”
Dan Boone
Dan Boone serves as a Board Member and Treasurer of the Ipswich Refugee Program (IRP). He is a liaison with the House of Peace in Ipswich and with Catholic Charities Archdiocese of Boston (CCAB), one of several resettlement agencies helping refugees resettle in the Boston area. He joined the IRP in August 2021 as the first Afghan refugees started arriving in the U.S. A total of 17 Afghans arrived in Ipswich between September and December 2021. Together with the House of Peace, CCAB and other IRP team members, Dan has worked to support these new arrivals with housing, employment, transportation, government benefits, education, access to health care, banking and language classes. He has led the development of partnerships with New England Biolabs and EBSCO Information Services to provide donated laptops for the refugee community in Ipswich and surrounding areas. These laptops provide online access to conduct job searches, access healthcare resources, online banking, English lessons, help integrate into their new home and stay connected to family and friends at home. To date, the IRP has donated over 80 laptops to our newest residents in eastern Massachusetts. As Treasurer, Dan also manages Federal Afghan Placement and Assistance (APA) funding and Massachusetts Afghan Emergency Assistance Program (AEAP) funding for each family. Dan brings 35 years of international business experience and program management skills to the IRP. Born and raised in the Middle East, he has a passion for the culture and language of the region.
Glenn C. Gibbs
Glenn joined the IRP Board in January of 2022, and serves as its Housing Coordinator. He has been a resident of Ipswich for 28 years, and was the Director of Planning & Development for the Town of Ipswich from 1994 until his retirement in 2019. Besides IRP, his affiliations include serving on the Board of the Ipswich Housing Authority, and as chair of the Rebecca R. Gibbs Memorial Charitable Fund Board. Glenn lives with his son Ben and his two cats, Bud and Henry.