How Do We Welcome the Strangers to Our City?

How Do We Welcome the Strangers to Our City?
A piece by the Immigrant and Refugee Service Corps (An AmeriCorps*State program)

INDIANAPOLIS (Oct. 12, 2012) – Last year, 694,193 people became naturalized citizens. Immigrant Welcome Center volunteer Laurence Saw, originally from Burma, was one of them in Indianapolis.

After suffering “terrible religious persecution” in his home country, Saw is now enjoying his rights as a U.S. citizen, and looking forward to exercising his right to vote in November. Saw knows, from his own experience and as Manager of Client Services for Catholic Charities’ Refugee Resettlement Program, that many immigrants to Indianapolis need assistance in order to begin their new lives in a new country. 

Beginning this month, the estimated 71,000 foreign-born in Marion County will turn to the new Immigrant and Refugee Service Corps (IRSC) to help them access the services they need to thrive.

The 10-member IRSC, one of 18 AmeriCorps programs in the state, was created by a coalition of immigrant service providers to mobilize community support for immigrants needs, build capacity and strengthen the network of service providers for central Indiana’s immigrant and refugee population. 

“Our community faces a huge challenge that calls for a thoughtful and caring response: How do we welcome the strangers among us?,” said Charlie Wiles, director of the Center for Interfaith Cooperation, which created and secured funding for the specialized AmeriCorps program.

“Having 10 talented and passionate IRSC AmeriCorps serving at resettlement agencies, academic institutions, and at a public arts program will help us to build relationship, ignites creativity, and brings people together to share the amazing stories of the newest Americans in our midst.” From September 2012-13, each AmericCorps member will provide 1,700 hours of service.

Refugee families currently receive six months of services from the U.S. State Department with the expectation that, by the end of that time, families will be self-sustaining. According to the Exodus Refugee Center, more than 75 percent of the families fail to gain self-sufficiency within the six-month service period.

The IRSC’s primary goals are to extend refugee services beyond the six-month window of services provided through federal programs and augment existing services for all immigrants with new counseling, youth mentoring and family health partnerships. To achieve these goals, IRSC AmeriCorps members, ranging in age from 22 to 40, will work within nine organizations that already serve a diverse mix of immigrants and refugees.

The IRSC also will expand service capacity and further educate the community at-large about the contributions of immigrants to arts and the economy through these agencies:

1.      Big Car Service Center for Contemporary Culture and Community

2.      Butler University’s Center for Citizenship and Community

3.      Center for Interfaith Cooperation

4.      Immigrant Welcome Center (2)

5.      Franklin College

6.      Christian Theological Seminary

7.      Muslim Alliance of Indiana

8.      Catholic Charities of Indianapolis

9.      Exodus Refugee Resettlement

“The IRSC program is designed to reach out in a caring way to help lift immigrant families out of poverty, which creates a positive impact for everyone in our society,” White said. It costs American taxpayers approximately $37,000 for every year that a child lives in poverty. And too often people in poverty live in isolation away from a caring community that can help to lift them out of a survivor mentality.

Access to caring, knowledgeable mentors can make a crucial difference in the educational success of immigrant children, which also impacts the family’s long-term sustainability. IRSC members will connect students with multilingual mentors, through a partnership with Butler University and Franklin College, to overcome any language and cultural barriers.

“In addition to enhancing each family’s educational opportunities, providing better access to quality healthcare services and employment opportunities, and helping to establish healthy lifestyle habits that assist in long-term sustainability, IRSC members will bolster awareness of Indianapolis’ multiculturalism and spur dialogue about the contributions of our newest residents” said Terri Morris Downs, executive director of the Immigrant Welcome Center, which will house two IRSC AmeriCorps.

In addition, IRSC members will train with local experts from several social service agencies to assess family needs and offer referrals as needed, including to marriage and family counselors on staff with the Counseling Center at Christian Theological Seminary, a service currently not being provided through existing programs.

Immigrants, particularly refugee families, often have experienced unthinkable trauma; being uprooted from their home with no promise of a secure future. The stress of adjustment in a new society only adds to this ordeal. The IRSC program is one more way Indianapolis can acknowledge the difficult transition to life in the United States for newcomers and respond to the opportunities and challenges – economic, social and culturally – of Indianapolis’ growing immigrant population.

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For more information about the IRSC AmeriCorps program:

 

Immigrant and Refugee Service Corps

Center for Interfaith Cooperation                   Phone (317) 318-5304
1100 West 42^nd St Ste 125                              www.centerforinterfaithcooperation.org
Indianapolis, IN 46208

Program Director: Charlie Wiles                  charlie@centerforinterfaithcooperation.org
Program Coordinator: Alfan Abdulahad    alfan_ghanim2000@yahoo.com