Archive for the ‘Nebraska’ Category
Posted by Christopher Coen on October 26, 2011
Slumlord
Omaha elected officials have finally had it with the 4,000+ unresolved code violation cases in the city involving substandard living conditions that endanger low-income, immigrant and refugee populations. Certain landlords – the slumlords – have been ignoring violation notices and failing to make repairs. An article in the Omaha World-Herald tells more:
An alliance of Omaha churches and community groups celebrated Tuesday after the City Council unanimously approved measures to increase fees for city building permits and inspections.
The council’s action, proponents said, helps end a years-long battle to better enforce building code violations that blight neighborhoods and endanger tenants…
…About 30 members of the group Omaha Together One Community filled part of the council chambers as seven of its members testified in favor of the amendments.
Rundown properties damage neighborhood property values and attract crime, they said. They argued that code violations create substandard living conditions that endanger low-income residents or immigrant and refugee populations.
“We know that many owners respond by fixing the problem. Our concern is with those who do not,” said OTOC member Susan Kuhlmann of Omaha.
“They ignore the (violation) notice and fail to make the repairs. Despite any follow-up city reinspections, there is no additional fee. So what’s the incentive to repair the property?”…
…Rick Cunningham, city planning director, said the higher fees were needed for his department to better cover inspection costs and promote more fee collections from property owners who ignore them…
…Cunningham said there are more than 4,000 unresolved code violation cases in the city… Read more here
Posted in housing, housing, substandard, Omaha, reform, safety | Tagged: code violations, crime, Omaha, property values, refugees, resettlement, slumlord, substandard living conditions, Together One Community | Leave a Comment »
Posted by Christopher Coen on March 14, 2011
Somehow the census count for Lexington, Nebraska – site of a large influx of refugee secondary migrants seeking jobs in the meatpacking plants – has somehow managed to avoid counting many of those refugees. An article in the Lexington Clipper-Herald doesn’t give any probable reasons for this miscount besides noting that many of the census forms at one building ended up in the garbage.
…LEXINGTON – City officials aren’t confident that 2010 Census figures reflect the town’s actual population and fear the newest residents, refugees from Africa, may have been undercounted.
According to figures released by the U.S. Census Bureau last week, Lexington grew by only 219 people during the past 10 years, a 2.2 percent increase.
“It’s much lower than what I expected,” Assistant City Manager Dennis Burnside said of the official 2010 Census population count of 10,230.
…Mayor John Fagot agreed that something appears amiss in the count. “I question the number,” he said. “They say the return rate (by mail) was 72 percent, and that reflects it. I think we have a number of people who weren’t able to be reached, for one reason or another, and weren’t counted.”
Lexington landlord Deanna White remembered census difficulties last spring. “A lot of people didn’t fill out their forms. We know that for sure. We found forms all over, on the ground, in hallways, Dumpsters – they were everywhere,” she said.
This was despite efforts to educate residents on the census and offers to help them fill out their form. A census worker followed up and obtained the information from 81 people residing in the apartments on April 1, White said.
Burnside said Somali leaders in Lexington report their
group’s population at 2,000, but the census figures don’t support that. Fagot said as the African refugee population increased he didn’t notice a corresponding exodus of others from Lexington…
…While 3,039 people in Lexington, or 30 percent, were considered some other race, that figure is 42 people less than the 3,081 in 2000 and doesn’t satisfactorily guarantee that all the African refugees were counted.
J.J. White, the newly selected chairman of the Somali Community Center and a landlord in Lexington, said based on the people he sees in town and the traffic
coming through the Somali Community Center, he thinks there are more people than the census captured.
“They tell me there’s close to 2,000 in town,” he said referring specifically to Somalians while noting there are additional people from Sudan, Liberia and other African countries. “I’m going on what I get fed by other people. I definitely think it’s low.”… Read more here
I thought that census workers automatically went to apartment buildings that seem to have an under-count and knocked on doors. Isn’t it just assumed that people with English-as-a-second language might not fill out the forms? Why did the census workers only go back to one apartment building?
Plus, wouldn’t you think that the ORR would have given the U.S. Census Bureau a heads-up on the need to count this population of refugees in Lexington since this is a site of one of their secondary-migration impact studies?
Posted in language, Lexington, meatpacking industry, ORR, secondary migration, refugee, Somali, US census | Tagged: census, human rights, immigrants, lexington, NE, Nebraska, Office of Refugee Resettlement, ORR, refugee resettlement, refugee resettlement program, refugees, resettlement, Somali refugees | Leave a Comment »
Posted by Christopher Coen on January 31, 2011
More than 100 Somali Bantu refugees in Omaha did a sit-in protest at their public housing office to complain about the lack of security at their housing complex as well as a lack of action by police. The refugees report that they are regularly beaten by nearby residents of another apartment, and police have failed to follow-up on the matter. A story in the Omaha World-Herald details more about the protest.
Refugees from war-torn Somalia and their families packed a South Omaha public housing office Tuesday morning to plead for protection after a recent series of assaults and incidents.
The two-hour protest by more than 100 people at the office of South Side Terrace drew Omaha Housing Authority officials, a police officer and eventually City Councilman Ben Gray of the OHA board.
Mohamed Hassan, director of the Somali Bantu Association of Nebraska, urged the people to protest because they were frustrated with what they said was a slow response from authorities…
…“(The refugees) come from work, they are beaten,” Hassan said. “They came from school, they are beaten. There is no safety and security. We came here for peace. We did not come here to fight.”
He and witnesses said people have seen the attackers run out of a South Side apartment and beat people, then run back in. They said they’ve told police, but officers haven’t followed up.
Omaha Police Department Capt. Kathy Belcastro-Gonzalez called the reports concerning, saying police would meet with the residents, OHA and the schools “to ensure that we are responding appropriately.”… Read more here
Posted in dangerous neighborhoods, housing, Omaha, police, safety, Somali Bantu | Tagged: assaults, beatings, Omaha, police, public housing, refugee resettlement, refugee resettlement program, refugees, resettlement, Somali bantu, Somali refugees | Leave a Comment »
Posted by Christopher Coen on December 7, 2010
There is an interesting article in the Alternet about the Sudanese community in Nebraska. This is the single largest group of former Sudanese refugees in the US. Many of the Sudanese youth are fighting and joining gangs. Reasons for this disturbing trend include their families’ migration from a homeland in conflict, a difficult to adapt to (completely different from their own) US culture, parents who no longer discipline their children due to US laws against beating children, to youth dropping out of school after schools place them in grades way above their education level. In addition this second generation of immigrants has learned English much more rapidly than their parents and are able to manipulate their parents’ interaction with other members of the community, such as school officials and the police.
..early 8,000 miles away from the violence in Darfur [and southern Sudan], Sudanese residents of Omaha are experiencing their own share of turbulence in this unassuming Midwestern city. And they’re fed up with it…
…Bruce Ferrell, a retired Omaha police officer, is the chairman of the Midwest Gang Investigators Association estimates that there are three Sudanese gangs in Omaha right now (More claims there are fourteen.) Ferrell said the first gangs in Omaha began in 2004–MJ, a Nuer acronym for “Dog Pussy,” and Afrikan Pride. Others followed, like MOB, GBLOCK, 402 (the area code for eastern Nebraska), South Sudan Soldiers, and TripSet. Gang members are mostly Nuer and Dinka, and, predictably, live in low-income neighborhoods. They are the children of refugees or are refugees themselves, coming from camps in Ethiopia, Egypt, and beyond, but ending up adrift in the middle of America…
…”They’re doing graffiti, they’re wearing colors, they’re identifying by specific group names, they’re participating in crimes that are against rival Sudanese gangs. We’re seeing that more [in the past year].”… Read more here
I think what is good about South Sudanese is that they have a strong identity and pride in their culture. Sometimes pride can also be a downfall – for us all – as in the old proverb “pride does often go before the fall”, but I think what’s happening here is a generation who doesn’t yet know who they are. Are they South Sudanese or America? Trapped between? Its a hard road to travel.
Posted in alienation-isolation, Lutheran Family Services of Nebraska, men, mental health, Nebraska, Omaha, police, school for refugee children, South Sudanese, suicide, teenagers, teens, young adults | Tagged: Dinka, gangs, juvenile delinquency, Nebraska, Nuer, Omaha, refugees, resettlement, sudanese, youth violence | Leave a Comment »
Posted by Christopher Coen on November 1, 2010
A former executive director the Asian Community and Cultural Center in Lincoln, Neb., one of the ORR’s mutual assistance associations, used the agency’s funding to pay for auto repairs, eye doctor bills, a vacation, and improvements to a restaurant she co-owned with her husband. At least $16,000 is unaccounted for. The agency received $125,000 this year alone from the ORR for ethnic community self-help. An article in the Lincoln Journal Star gives additional details:
The former executive director of Lincoln’s Asian Community and Cultural Center may have engaged in financial improprieties that total $16,000, state Auditor Mike Foley said Monday.
Foley posted an audit report on his website alleging Modesta Putla used her position to manipulate the accounting process over a three-year period to give herself thousands of dollars in unauthorized raises and vacation pay, improper expense reimbursements and questionable payments to The Peacock Indian Cuisine restaurant owned by Putla and her husband, Samuel Rajkumar.
Other improper transactions Foley said auditors found included payments for auto repairs for Putla’s personal vehicle, eye doctor bills, personal Lincoln Electric System bills and window coverings for the restaurant, which recently closed…
…The Asian Community and Cultural Center, founded in 1994, is funded by private donations as well as grants from the city and Lancaster County and hundreds of thousands of dollars in federal grants through the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services for refugee resettlement programs. According to its website, its mission is to “support and empower Asian people while sharing our cultures with the entire community through our programs and services.”…
…Foley said the improprieties went unnoticed by two certified public accounting firms involved with the Asian Center. One firm handled day-to-day accounting functions for the center, while the second did its annual financial audit.
According to Foley’s report, Putla had complete control over the center’s finances and was the sole contact with its accountants.
Foley wrote that he “believes strongly that additional monies are likely to be missing and other payment activities may be suspect or fraudulent.”
He has submitted the audit to the Nebraska Attorney General’s Office for further investigation. Read more here
Modesta Putla would certainly not be alone in her abuse and misappropriation of public funding at agencies claiming to assist refugees. Last year the CEO of Lutheran Family Services in the Carolinas (LFS), Suzanne Gibson-Wise, was reportedly using her agency’s funds for company paid vehicles, wireless internet in her home, countless Blackberries, a personal commode, and a new $4000 office conference table — because the one that was in the office wasn’t good enough. At the same time her agency was failing to give refugees minimum-required services and material items (here). A local journalist found two Iraqi refugee brothers scrounging furniture from a dumpster because LFS hadn’t given them any furniture, and they were wearing shorts and flip-flops in December because LFS hadn’t given them any clothes when they arrived in September. LFS and its national affiliate LIRS then announced that LFS would no longer be resettling refugees in Greensboro due to “financial reasons”, here In other words, they wanted the public to believe that refugee resettlement was not viable in Greensboro – even though other agencies have continued refugee resettlement in the city.
There was also the curious case of Myra M. Oliver, the late director of the International Institute of Connecticut, who paid herself $100,000 a year while her refugee clients lived in squalor in dilapidated apartments, here. She apparently kept taking a salary as she was dying of cancer and the agency was falling apart in ’07 and ’08.
Then, there is the Grand Dame of refugee resettlement corruption, Nikki Tesfai, the founder of LA’s African Community Resource Center, here. She was the darling of ORR’s then director Lavinia Limon (now head of USCRI) and even appeared on the Oprah show, while secretly skimming hundreds of thousands of dollars from refugee resettlement contracts.
Posted in funding, Lincoln, Mutual Assistance Associations (“MAAs”)/Ethnic Community-Based Organizations (“ECBOs”), ORR, revolving door | Tagged: Asian Community and Cultural Center, lavinia limon, Modesta Putla, mutual assistance association, Myra M. Oliver, Nikki Tesfai, Office of Refugee Resettlement, ORR | Leave a Comment »
Posted by Christopher Coen on October 22, 2010
Lexington, Nebraska has become a site of refugee secondary migration (when refugees resettled in one place move on their own volition to another city or state.) Approximately 2,200 Somali refugees have relocated to this rural site to take jobs at Tyson Fresh Meats during the past 4-5 years. An article in the Lexington Clipper-Herald covers the problems these refugees face with the lack of services that address their language and cultural barriers.
Four or five years ago, the numbers of Somali residents in Lexington began to grow as work opportunities at Tyson Fresh Meats attracted resettled refugee victims with employment.
The Somali Community Center says nearly 2,200 Somali natives have become Lexingtonites, and are in dire need of language services in order to integrate and be a productive and safe part of the Lexington community...
…Lexington is full of “secondary migrants,” says Kimberly Thomas, Interim Director of Community Services at Lutheran Family Services of Nebraska, an agency involved in providing resettlement services and assistance in conjunction with the international relocation process…
…Thomas encourages all community members in Lexington to reach out to their new neighbors.
On the topic of traffic accidents, customary differences, and especially health and physical safety needs like medical service, and paying bills, Somalis are struggling…
…the language barrier is a very real problem.
This problem is especially challenging because no current state interpreter licensure exists in many fields…
…Medical interpretation assistance is one area in which the SCC board members express the most need., especially during after-hours emergency care.
While not enough adults have gained proficiency in English yet, there is a shortage of volunteer interpreters to help Somalis do things like pay bills or recognize junk mail, and most importantly interface with professionals on a variety of levels including law enforcement and at the hospital…
…Throughout several interviews, the idea of “Emergency ESL” emerged as a potential way community members could volunteer to help each other.
“It’s really going to take a community,” Thomas says, “It’s going to take local people embracing a neighbor and saying, ‘here, I’ll help you, I’ll teach you, because [that which is] outside of Lexington can’t do it for Lexington,” Lexington is going to have to get there.
“It’s going to take volunteer effort. Limited dollars are going to be involved, but it is rewarding work.
“And when people stop seeing them[selves] as outside [the problem] and not responsible, they start [understanding] that this is “our” community.”
Thomas suggested a mentor-mentee model where churches could get volunteers to sponsor a person or a family to help once or twice a week going through the mail, or helping with “Survival English.”… Read more here
Not mentioned in the article is that Nebraska is one of five sites chosen for a U.S. Department of Health & Human Services Office of Refugee Resettlement (ORR) funded Rural Secondary Migration Pilot Project study begun in early spring 2009 and conducted by the Spring Institute for Intercultural Learning. The study was supposed to “examine the impact of secondary migration on communities, the community response to secondary migration, available community resources and early intervention strategies for assisting refugees, and technical assistance to build social service capacity.” Other states participating in the assessment process include: Texas, North Dakota, Colorado and Kansas.
A delegation from the Spring Institute for Intercultural Learning visited Lexington in August 2009, yet to date there is no word from the Institute or the ORR about what they learned or what technical assistance they offered to build social service capacity. Certainly, the community and the refugee population is still struggling as ORR dawdles.
Posted in ESL & ELL, Lexington, Lutheran Family Services of Nebraska, meatpacking industry, Nebraska, ORR, refugee magnet city, secondary migration, refugee, Somali | Tagged: Lexington Nebraska, Lutheran Family Services of Nebraska, Office of Refugee Resettlement, ORR, refugee resettlement, refugee resettlement agencies, refugee resettlement program, refugees, Rural Secondary Migration Pilot Project, secondary migrants, secondary migration, refugee, Somali refuges, Spring Institute for Intercultural Learning, Tyson Fresh Meats | Leave a Comment »
Posted by Melissa Sogard on June 27, 2010
The Refugee Council USA (RCUSA), the refugee resettlement agencies’ lobbying wing, is recommending to the President that we accept 100,000 refugees in fiscal year 2011, here and here. That would be 20,000 more than he recommended for this year – 80,000. Next year, no doubt, we’ll read well-placed media stories about how these additional refugees were forced onto the resettlement agencies, and how overwhelmed they are.
Unexplained is how the agencies would be able to find jobs for that many additional refugees in a down economy. According to RCUSA’s Fiscal Year 2011 Funding Urgently Needed for the Office of Refugee Resettlement:
… the federally funded programs administered by local refugee resettlement agencies are highly successful in assisting refugees in securing employment…
Is that true? According to the article, Arizona’s Neglected Immigrants, jobs in Phoenix are scarce for refugees:
The recession is having a strong impact on employment for Arizona’s refugees. Finding jobs for immigrants is a primary concern for the state-contracted refugee resettlement agencies, which bring a large portion of Africans to the Valley.
Only one in three of people in the refugee caseload entered the workforce in 2009, the lowest level in three years for the Office for Refugee Resettlement. Those who landed work received an average hourly wage of $7.17 here.
We know that jobs are scarce in most other states as well.
Taking at look at honey pot recommendations, RCUSA recommends more than doubling funding for the Matching Grant program from $60 million to $135 million. The program allows the resettlement agencies to give refugees donated stuff, a.k.a. ‘Junk for Jesus’, and the government matches it at a 2 to 1 ratio – two government dollars for each dollar of stuff. (Shouldn’t it be 1 to 1? The 2 to 1 is essentially a “mismatch”, isn’t it?)
They also want a $12.4 million increase for “Specialized Employment Services” for highly educated and professional refugees. But we’ve seen how they use current funding for Iraqi SIV immigrants, here. They already receive public funding for case management for each refugee whether they be refugees who are highly educated professionals or not. Why don’t they just use those dollars to connect the refugees with information at existing organizations that offer a wealth of information to help immigrant professionals, such as Upwardly Global?
RCUSA also wants $13 million more for its resettlement agency members for ‘Case Management for Highly Vulnerable Refugees’. Does that mean they are also willing to take a cut in funding for the refugees who are highly employable, well-adjusted and don’t need much case management? I suspect not.
They want an extra $4 million for community outreach. For example, the ORR funds ethnic food festivals in places like Lincoln, Nebraska here. I suspect that sort of thing is useful as a way to help refugees earn money, while creating a fun festival for the larger community, but with refugees facing evictions in the current economy is this really the best way to spend limited funds? Why isn’t current funding being shifted to help with emergencies?
Posted in employment/jobs for refugees, funding, Iraqi, Lincoln, Matching Grant program, Nebraska, Obama administration, ORR, Phoenix, Refugee Council USA (RCUSA), SIV (Special Immigrant Visa) immigrants | Tagged: AZ, Iraqi, Junk for Jesus, Lincoln, Matching grant, NB, Nebraska, Office of Refugee Resettlement, ORR, Phoenix, RCUSA, Refugee Council USA, refugees, resettlement, SIV | Leave a Comment »
Christopher Coen
Melissa Sogard
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