Web Tool To Help Resettle Ga. Refugees In New Communities

Georgia Tech Computer Science assistant professor Bistra Dilkina worked with three student interns during this summer’s Data Science for Social Good internship program. She helped students develop an online tool for New American Pathways.

TASNIM SHAMMA / WABE

It can take a while for refugees to get the paperwork they need to get a driver’s license or be able to afford a car. So they need easy access to public transit, supermarkets, schools and low rents. So the city of Clarkston, just outside Interstate-285 in DeKalb County, is an ideal location.

But Clarkston is just 1.4 square miles and it’s running out of space as refugees decide they actually want to stay there.

The resettlement agency New American Pathways helps place more than 500 refugees in metro Atlanta each year. Many end up in Clarkston.