The July 8 Open Space planning session is incredibly important. Here are my 10 recommendations. Please come to the meeting with your list, too.
If you care, you must participate or make arrangements to send a representative. The organizers promise that we will move to a plan of action, a tacit recognition that the current system requires extensive fixing. I commend the folks who have spent much time and energy putting it together. The departure of Lutheran Family Services and terrible economy have made our challenges harder. Individually, we can't garner the attention of State or local officials or big foundations to back game-changing projects. Together, we can.
There should be plenty of healthy debate. For the past two years I've had the honor of working alongside and intensely observing refugees and volunteers and professionals who work daily to improve lives. To learn more, I invested time to become a paid ESOL and then job specialist to directly experience "conditions on the ground". The following are my views, not those of MDA or any other organization.
1. LFS is ditching the office that provides critical refugee services. Continue legal services under responsible local management.
2. Few resources exist to empower individuals from refugee status to citizenship. I'm working with Andrea Fisher to develop curriculum materials for civics and citizenship. Support and fund civics and citizenship classes.
3. Refugees carry the costs of thousands of poorly spent dollars because they're deprived of basic information to make good decisions. I have written a set of specifications for this process under review by an academic linguist and a commercial translator of technical journals. Translate and deliver this information. To reduce costs, create a non-profit media service to design, produce and deliver media.
4. State-supported refugee agencies compete against one another to place clients in the same jobs. I have worked in job development at MDA and observed the excellent work of my counterparts in other organizations. Create a nonprofit employment office attentive to refugees' special needs. Pool resources and expertise to develop positive relationships with employers, support the local economy and help local businesses grow.
5. Glen Haven, Avalon Trace, Newcomers School and New Arrivals School represent proven models. I have worked with clients who enjoy their services and they clearly seem to perform better than those who have not experienced them. Let's make sure these locations have the resources they need to continue. Let's replicate the Glen-Haven, Avalon Trace model at other apartment complexes full of underserved refugees.
6. Avoidable health problems abound due to lack of information and inaccessible, expensive care. A small group of us have been talking about academic studies to bolster public health, nutrition, and social work among refugees. Let's use health literacy and preventive care to get ahead of the problem.
7. What are the true costs to resettle a family? Let's count all the dollars, including the huge contributions by long-time sponsors, to generate a number. Undoubtedly this has the potential to raise a firestorm of public controversy. But without real numbers, we can't defend current practices, advance solutions, or advocate aggressively. Honesty is the best public policy.
8. Housing problems. Empower refugees to photograph and document their problems publicly, online.
9. Few resources and organizations exist to preserve and promote culture and values, support families, and provide a forum for political redress or airing problems. MDA (Montagnard Dega Association) is an imperfect example of an ethnic-based mutual assistance association, but it is among only a few in the area. For many years, discussion has gone on about a Montagnard education center. Let's go beyond this. Let's create an incubator center for housing, growing and nurturing ethnic-based community organizations, including leadership, civil society and conflict resolution training. Such a center would also be a much-needed contact point for government and other official agencies.
10. Available funding will continue to drop after the economy begins its long recovery. Agencies must mix clever innovation, teamwork, and technology with the region's tradition of generous volunteership and gift-giving. Tight collaborative ventures are being advocated by every workforce and economic development project I've worked on. Consult technologists to learn how technology can facilitate problem-solving, communications, collaboration, cost reductions and inspire new approaches and solutions to old problems.
