Archive for the ‘CWS’ Category
Posted by Christopher Coen on May 8, 2012
The Minnesota Council of Churches, an affiliate of EMM and CWS, is opening its first outstate (outside the Twin Cities) office in Mankato. Mankato is a small city and site of Minnesota State University and a Mayo Clinic facility. The top four employers are Immanuel St. Joseph’s – Mayo Health System, Minnesota State University, the public school district and MRCI Industrial Operation, a temporary employment services provider. An article in the Mankato Free Press explains:
MANKATO — When the Minnesota Council of Churches was deciding where to build its first outstate office for refugee assistance, Mankato stood out.
That wasn’t because refugees were coming here directly from their home countries. Mankato isn’t designated by the federal government as a first stop for refugees.
But refugees who landed in other American cities were making their way to Mankato and bringing relatives, said Rachele King, director of refugee services for the nonprofit.
She heard good things about Mankato, both as a place to live and one that helps refugees.
The Mankato office opened April 1, but is taking time to figure out what other nonprofits and governments are doing here to avoid competing with them… Read more here
Posted in Community Refugee and Immigration Services (CRIS), Minnesota, Minnesota Council of Churches, Minnesota Council of Churches | Tagged: Church World Service, CWS, EMM, Episcopal Migration Ministries, Mankato, Minnesota Council of Churches, refugees, resettlement, Twin Cities | Leave a Comment »
Posted by Christopher Coen on February 29, 2012
This is an extra scene from Nickel City Smiler, a documentary film about Karen refugees in Buffalo. Donna Pepero, head of the Refugee School Impact Program in the Buffalo Public Schools, talks about a resettlement agency in Buffalo that dropped off a refugee family to an apartment furnished with just part of a sectional sofa – not even any beds:
Posted in Buffalo, Burma/Myanmar, Catholic Charities of Buffalo, furnishings, lack of, International Institute of Buffalo, Jewish Family Service of Buffalo & Erie County, Journey's End Refugee Services, Journey's End Refugee Services, Karen | Tagged: Buffalo, documentary, Donna Pepero, Nickel City Smiler, Refugee School Impact Program, refugees, resettlement | Leave a Comment »
Posted by Christopher Coen on January 23, 2012
In New Haven three refugee cases, including a family of eleven, were displaced after their apartments were condemned due to broken pipes and black mold contamination. The city housing inspector said his office previously cited the landlord for violations at other properties. An article in the New Haven Independent explains the situation:
When kids living in a Nash Street house kept showing up at the hospital with respiratory problems, city housing inspector Rafael Ramos went to their home and found black mold covered the bedroom walls of an apartment holding 11 Congolese refugees.
Ramos condemned 17 Nash St.‘s first floor on Dec. 22. The family has since been living in a hotel—at the Nash Street landlord’s expense—until they can find another place to live.
This month, Ramos returned and condemned the second floor, removing two other refugees who were living there, after pipes burst on the third floor…
…“In the seven years I’ve been doing this, this has been our most serious problem,” said Chris George, the head of Integrated Refugee and Immigrant Services (IRIS). That organization helped settle the Congolese family in New Haven when it first arrived more than two years ago…
…Now IRIS is reconsidering some of its policies, looking to see if the period of supervision of new refugees should be extended to ensure the safety and success of settlements. And the city is looking to work more closely with IRIS to insure that other newcomers to the United States don’t end up in similar straits…
…The property slipped through the cracks of the city’s Residential Licensing Program. That program is designed to ensure that the city safeguards the living conditions of all renters, even if—like some new immigrants—they don’t speak English well or otherwise aren’t equipped to complain about their situation…
…George said he heard about the problems from neighbors. “I visited the family a couple of times. I met with them in the backyard to go over the problems. I never went into the house. I realize now that was a mistake.”…
…on Dec. 22, Ramos got a call from a medical anthropologist working at the Yale-New Haven Children’s Hospital, who said he had visited 17 Nash St. after kids living there kept showing up at the hospital with respiratory problems.
Ramos visited the house and went into the bedrooms he hadn’t visited earlier. He took pictures of what he found there: Black mold covering the walls, right next to beds where children slept.
Somehow moisture was entering the home through the walls, seeping in and warming up, making it an ideal environment for mold growth. Airborne mold spores were then making the children sick. Ramos immediately condemned the first floor…
…LCI returned earlier this month after pipes burst in the third floor. The furnace apparently broke, lowering temperatures and bursting pipes, Ramos said. LCI removed two single men—also refugees—living on the second floor.
Ramos said LCI has previously cited the [landlord] for violations at other properties. He said what happened at 17 Nash St. is a perfect example of why the residential licensing program is important. “This family didn’t know that they could complain without retribution. They didn’t know we have ordinances in place to protect their health and safety.”… Read more here
Posted in children, Congolese, housing, Integrated Refugee and Immigrant Services (IRIS), Integrated Refugee and Immigrant Services (IRIS), New Haven, safety | Tagged: Chris George, Integrated Refugee and Immigrant Services, IRIS, New haven, refugees, resettlement, slum lord, slumlord | Leave a Comment »
Posted by Christopher Coen on November 20, 2011
A roundtable panel discussion In Austin addresses the issue of older refugees. Panelists included Zarni Tun (resettlement case manager with Refugee Services of Texas); Lorel Donaghey (employment specialist with Caritas of Austin); Casey Kasper (ESL teacher with Interfaith Action of Texas) and Rebecca Tulis (extended case manager with Refugee Services of Texas). The discussion is described at Austin Refugee Roundtable:
…Some of the problems faced by older refugees –identified as refugees over the age of 50- included:
- General fear of being a burden on family members.
- It is more difficult for them to learn English which makes it more difficult to pass the US citizenship test. This makes them not eligible to receive SSI/SSDI beyond 7 years.
- Employment difficulty since many jobs that would be a good fit (caring for others, childcare, sewing) require individuals to be fluent in English or able to work fast on big machines… Read more here
Posted in alienation-isolation, Austin, Caritas of Austin, elderly refugees, employment/jobs for refugees, ESL & ELL, language, mental health, Refugee Services of Texas, Refugee Services of Texas | Tagged: Austin, Caritas of Austin, elderly, ESL, Interfaith Action of Texas, panel discussion, Refugee Services of Texas, refugees, resettlement, Roundtable | Leave a Comment »
Posted by Christopher Coen on October 30, 2011
It turns out that resettlement agencies in Lancaster, Pennsylvania have not been giving coats or good shoes to refugees as early as the winter of 2009 (even though resettlement agencies sign a contract with the US State Department promising that they will give refugees Appropriate seasonal clothing required for work, school, and everyday use as required for all members of the family, including proper footwear for each member of the family, here). A school district official also visited refugee families and found instances where two or more Bhutanese families sharing an apartment. The two local resettlement agencies, Church World Service Lancaster and Lutheran Children and Family Service of Eastern PA, apparently had not even informed the School District of Lancaster – or at least the School District’s point person for homeless students – about the arrival of the Bhutanese families. An article in the Intelligencer Journal/Lancaster New Era covers this resettlement site:
In late 2009, with winter setting in, the children of some Bhutanese families were coming to school without coats or good shoes.
Ken Marzinko, School District of Lancaster’s point person for homeless students, started visiting the parents, and in some cases, found two or more Bhutanese families sharing an apartment.
“I was caught off guard,” Marzinko said of hearing about the refugees and their needs.
Like most Americans, Marzinko wasn’t aware the United States had in 2008 begun taking in 60,000 of the more than 100,000 Bhutanese crowding camps in Nepal. More than 800 now live in Lancaster County, and many more are in the pipeline... Read more here
The most recent State Department inspections of the two local resettlement agencies, from 2006, show other problems. The report for Church World Service Lancaster shows that only 53% of refugee clients were employed after 90 days, even though jobs at that time were quite plentiful in Lancaster, with an unemployment rate of only 3.4% in 2006. Agency staff had also used white out throughout the case logs.
The Lutheran Children and Family Service inspection report also showed that refugees’ relatives who helped with their resettlement did not understand that the agency was ultimately responsible for all contract requirements. Apparently the agency had duped these relatives into believing that they were responsible for the requirements of the agency’s contract (a common occurence according to these State Department monitoring reports). In three of four refugee homes that monitors visited, batteries in smoke detectors were dead.
Although the two agencies, the Lutheran agency being a subcontractor of LIRS, were vested with the State Department contract requirement that each refugee receive a physical health screening within 30 days, refugees were not being screened within that time requirement. Case logs also did not make references to airport reception of refugees and employment referals – as supposedly equired – so that there was no documentation that these services were provided by the resettlement agencies.
Posted in children, clothes, Cooperative Agreement, CWS, employment services, faith-based, housing, housing, overcrowding, late health screenings, Lutheran, Lutheran Children and Family Service of Eastern PA, meeting refugees at the airport, Nepali Bhutanese, Operational Guidance, Pennsylvania, State Department | Tagged: bhutanese, Church World Service, Church World Service Lancaster, CWS, federal contractors, LIRS, Lutheran Children and Family Service of Eastern Pennsylvania, Lutheran immigration and refugee services, refugees, resettlement | Leave a Comment »
Posted by Christopher Coen on October 29, 2011
The Nickel City Smiler documentary film will be showing next weekend in Buffalo. It gives refugees their own voice, describing their experiences in the resettlement process – something the refugee resettlement agencies regularly ignore, and even suppress.
Screenings are scheduled for:
Friday, Saturday & Sunday (November 4, 5 and 6) at 7pm at the Market Arcade, Film and Art Centre, located a 639 Main Street, Buffalo NY.
Hand-made bags by Karen refugee Ma Dee, who is featured in the film, and other Karen goods will be available for purchase at the screening.
The Nickel City Smiler documentary film is also available for purchase on DVD — here.
Posted in Buffalo, Catholic Charities of Buffalo, dangerous neighborhoods, faith-based, household items, missing or broken, housing, housing, overcrowding, International Institute of Buffalo, Jewish Family Service of Buffalo & Erie County, Journey's End Refugee Services, Journey's End Refugee Services, Karen, language, population levels, using refugees as pawns to boost, safety | Tagged: Buffalo, dangerous neighborhoods, documentary, Nickel City Smiler, population decline, refugees, resettlement, Smiler Greely | Leave a Comment »
Posted by Christopher Coen on October 12, 2011
A so-called “fight” between a man and the Nepali-Bhutanese residents of an apartment complex in Columbus turns out to have been an alleged robbery. Police shot the man to death. The robbery apparently involved more than one perpetrator. An article in ThisWeek Community Newspapers has the details:
…an Aug. 24 police-involved shooting at the 604-unit Breckenridge Apartments on Shanley Drive east of Karl Road. Initial reports said a melee that broke out there that night was a result of racial tensions between the Bhutanese people and African American residents of the complex, but Remy said that turned out not to be the case.
It was instead, he said, a matter of a robbery.
The incident involved a “couple of gangsters robbing people,” Abdi Soofe of the city’s Community Relations Commission told The Columbus Dispatch for a story that ran on Sept. 6.
A 21-year-old man died after being shot by a police officer as he scuffled with another cop during a fight involving more than two dozen people in the courtyard of the apartment complex, according to The Dispatch.
Angie Plummer, executive director of Community Refugee and Immigration Services-Ohio, said the situation was not the result of racial tensions but was instead “a bunch of criminal … ne’er-do-wells looking for people to prey on.”… Read more here
Posted in Columbus, Community Refugee and Immigration Services (CRIS), Community Refugee and Immigration Services (CRIS), dangerous neighborhoods, Nepali Bhutanese, police, safety | Tagged: bhutanese, Columbus, Community Refugee and Immigration Services, CRIS, refugees, resettlement, robbery | Leave a Comment »
Posted by Christopher Coen on October 7, 2011
A showbiz blog at The Guardian updates us on the continuing black-tie dinners and glitzy ceremonies at which the resettlement and relief establishment continues to give awards to its preeminent celebrity luminary, Angelina Jolie. There are the luxury hotel ballrooms, the limousine fleets, the five-star banquets and the donning of floorlength-and-fabulous gowns. Church World Service, the International Rescue Committee and the UNHCR are some of the organizations that have gotten in on the act and, somewhat embarrassingly, all in the name of helping the world’s poorest.
Once more, dear friends, to a familiar furrow, as we must ask: when did philanthropy stop being its own reward? The inquiry is prompted this time by news that Angelina Jolie has been garlanded with yet another humanitarian award. According to the UN Refugee Agency’s own report on the matter, the agency “paid lavish tribute” to the Hollywood star on Monday night in “a slick ceremony”.
Of course, this not the first award that the UN has bestowed upon Angelina. They confected another one in 2005, giving her their first Global Humanitarian Action Award, which was presented at a glittering black-tie dinner at the Waldorf Astoria hotel in New York, attended by 700 diplomats and dignitaries.
Back in 2002, another glitzy New York ceremony had attended Angelina’s receipt of the inaugural Church World Service Immigration and Refugee Program Humanitarian Award…
…in 2007, she scooped another gong, this time from the UNHCR’s close partner, the International Rescue Committee. This was the Freedom Award, previously used to honour Winston Churchill and Aung San Suu Kyi, and which is given in recognition of an individual’s ability “to shape history”. There seems to have been some ceremony in – well, what do you know? – a swanky New York hotel.
One could go on. But what a strange business this is – this hiring of luxury hotel ballrooms, this renting of limousine fleets, this preparing of five-star banquets for invited bigwigs, this donning of floorlength-and-fabulous gowns. No doubt many of the providers contribute their services for free or at cost, but it seems to be a most idiosyncratic way of helping some of the world’s poorest people… Read more here
Posted in CWS, IRC, NYC, UN (United Nations) | Tagged: Angelina Jolie, Global Humanitarian Action Award, Hollywood, refugees, relief, resettlement | Leave a Comment »
Posted by Christopher Coen on September 29, 2011
The pro-refugee documentary Nickel City Smiler, which refreshingly does not do the usual towing of the line of refugee resettlement contractors, is now set for an early November showing in Buffalo. The documentary film, produced in Buffalo, chronicles the life of a Karen refugee family (from Burma/Myanmar) after they have been resettled to a tough inner-city Buffalo neighborhood. The film documents the refugee family’s hardship and their incredible determination to one day live in peace and ensure a better future for their children.
Local refugee resettlement contractors were involved in having the
documentary removed from a neighborhood film festival last summer.
The film will be shown at:
Note: The Nickel City Smiler DVD is also available for purchase.
Posted in Buffalo, Burma/Myanmar, Catholic Charities of Buffalo, dangerous neighborhoods, furnishings, lack of, household items, missing or broken, housing, substandard, International Institute of Buffalo, Jewish Family Service of Buffalo & Erie County, Journey's End Refugee Services, Journey's End Refugee Services, Karen, population levels, using refugees as pawns to boost, safety | Tagged: Buffalo, Burma, documentary, federal contractors, inner-city, Karen, Myanmar, neglect, Nickel City Smiler, refugees, resettlement, Smiler Greely | Leave a Comment »
Posted by Christopher Coen on August 29, 2011
Tensions between black and Nepali-Bhutanese residents of a North Side Columbus apartment complex reached a peak last week when officers were called on a report of a fight that included a man with a gun. The story is in The Columbus Dispatch:
The fight that resulted in the shooting death of a man by a Columbus police officer on Wednesday night apparently was the result of racial tensions between black and Nepalese residents of a North Side apartment complex, neighbors said.
Residents of the complex said a melee broke out between four black men and as many as 20 Nepalese immigrants, all of whom live in the Breckenridge Apartments off Shanley Drive.
About 100 Nepales refugees live in the complex, said a woman from Nepal who lives there. She said the racial tensions are ongoing, and she asked not to be named for fear of retaliation.
Yesterday, police still wouldn’t release the name of the man who died shortly after 9 p.m. Wednesday at the Ohio State University Medical Center…
…The incident began, Columbus police said, when officers were called about 8:30 p.m. to 1666 Shanley Dr. on a report of a fight that included a man with a gun.
Just as officers arrived, they heard gunshots, said Sgt. Christine Nemchev, spokeswoman for Columbus police.
Two officers went into a crowd that was fighting in the apartment-complex courtyard, and one of them got into a scuffle with an armed man. That man was shot by the officer’s partner, according to police… Read more here
Another article identifies the man killed by police as 21-year-old Francis Owens.
My question is a simple one: What did the refugees’ resettlement agency do to help them resolve the escalating tensions? Some landlords let disruptive and hostile tenants in, and its at that point that other tenants need to think about getting out. Did the resettlement agency place these refugees at the apartment complex? Did the agency help the Nepalese try to negotiate through the tricky situation?
Posted in Columbus, Community Refugee and Immigration Services (CRIS), Community Refugee and Immigration Services (CRIS), dangerous neighborhoods, Nepali Bhutanese, police, safety | Tagged: bhutanese, Breckenridge Apartments, Columbus, Community Refugee and Immigration Services, CRIS, Francis Owens, nepalese, Nepali-Bhutanese, police, refugees, resettlement | Leave a Comment »
Christopher Coen
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