LCFS Refugee Resettlement Program

World Refugee Day Event: June 20

 

Everyone is welcome at Lancaster's second-annual World Refugee Day celebration, to be held on June 2oth at the Eastern Market, 308 E. King Street.  Beginning at 9am, the event will feature multi-cultural cuisine, international arts and crafts and a variety of other locally-grown fresh flowers and produce for sale from Eastern Market vendors.  Children's activities will be available and live international music will be performed throughout the day.   A short program will be held from 10:30am to 2:00pm.

Countries around the globe have long recognized June 20 as World Refugee Day.  It is a day to celebrate the many contributions of refugees, and raise public awareness of the millions around the world who have been forced to flee their homes and are still waiting for permanent solutions.  According to the United Nations High Commission on Refugees (UNHCR) there are currently 17 million refugees and other "people of concern" scattered throughout the globe.

Last year's event in Lancaster drew approximately 700 people to the Eastern Market, including local refugees, sponsoring groups, and other interested community members.  This year, representatives of local refugee resettlement organizations, the Lancaster mayor's office, the PA State Refugee Program, and local refugees themselves have again been invited to participate.  There is no admission fee, and the public is encouraged to come out and celebrate the many contributions of refugees in our local community and around the world.

The event is being jointly sponsored by the East King Improvement District, Church World Service / Lancaster, and Lutheran Refugee Services in Central PA.  For more information, please contact Beth May at 717-381-2891 or Andrea Miller at 717-397-4757.

We Need Your Help!

At Lutheran Refugee Services, our mission is to "Welcome the Stranger" living in our midst - many whom have come from countries of extreme turmoil and tragedy.  Despite the current economic downturn, we believe that the United States still offers hope and opportunity to those whom the rest of the world has forgotten.  Yet as government funding for the U.S. Refugee Program fails to keep pace with the true costs of resettlement, we are experiencing increasing challenges as we attempt to fulfill our calling to extend hospitality and love.

Providing this welcome requires the support of you, our community.  Here are ways that you can get involved:

 

Sponsorship:  A four-month committment to guide and assist a newly-arrived refugee family.  Includes helping find and furnish an apartment, provide transportation to appointments, seek employment, and be their mentors and friends!  We expect the following families to arrive in the coming months, who do not yet have a sponsor.  Would your church or group of friends consider welcoming them in this way?

• Somali couple with 2-year old son
• Chin Burmese families
• Iraqi family of 4
• Iraqi family of 6
• Cuban family of 3
• Nepali Bhutanese families of 7, 5, and 4 people

Welcome Boxes:  This is a great project for a Sunday School class, book club, or another group that doesn't feel ready to sponsor a family... but still wants to help!  These boxes are given to families when they move in to their new homes.  Information about how to assemble a box can be obtained by calling 717-397-4757, or clicking here.  We are in urgent need of the following:

• Bathroom Box (pack in laundry basket)
• Kitchen Box (pack in garbage can)
• Bedroom Box
• School Kits (pack in book-bag)
• Tool Kit (pack in small carry case)

Emergency Housing Fund:  This fund is used to support families going through financial hardship, or to help pay for rent/utility costs for those who do not have a church sponsor.  Your gift is fully tax-deductible, and 100% goes to support a refugee family.  We are in urgent need of donations to this fund.  You may either send your contribution to our office (123 E Vine Street Lancaster, PA 17602), or click here to make an online-contribution.  Please specify your gift for the Refugee Emergency Housing Fund.

Volunteers!  We are always grateful for those who sign up to assist our families in other ways also.  Even one person can make a difference!  We need transportation volunteers, temporary hosts, employers, landlords, ESL tutors, and the list goes on...!

For more infomation about any of these opportunities or information about other ways that you can assist a refugee family, please contact Nan Garber, Resource Developer.  She can be reached at 717-397-4757 or nang@lcfsinpa.org.  On behalf of the vulnerable families we serve, THANK YOU!

A Burmese Family Finds Peace and Love, Thanks to Lutheran Churches

A family of five was able to escape persecution in Burma thanks to a ministry team of Refugee Sponsorship called Lutheran Community Outreach (LCO).  LCO is the conbination of five churches: Brickerville United Lutheran, St. Paul Lutheran Lititiz, St. Paul Lutheran Pennryn, Salem Lutheran, and Zion Lutheran.

The family of Burmese refugees arrived to the United States on March 18, 2009 after a 22-hour flight from Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.  After a layover at JFK Airport, members of the LCO and a Lutheran Refugee Services caseworker welcomed them at the Lancaster Airport around midnight.

 

What a long and grueling journey for such a young family; father John is 30 years old, mother Mang is 32 years old, eldest son Samuel is 15, second daughter Gracy is 12 and youngest daughter Jessica is only one year old.

 

Within two weeks of their arrival, the family started attending ESL classes with the help of the church sponsor group.  The refugees are also able to adapt faster to American life thanks to the kindness of a church member named Susan, who has opened her home to host them for about 2 months.  In a very short period, Susan and the family have become dear friends.

 

Samuel and Gracy have received the required immunization shots for school registration.  They are both very excited to go to school, to meet new friends and speak the English they are learning.  They are preparing for the upcoming school years during this summer holiday.

 

The family has taken to the small town of Lititz well, and they enjoy the neighborhood they live in greately.  They treasure the early morning spring breezes, and the children love to ride bicycles around the neighborhood in the early evening.  On Sundays, they are invited to their sponsor churches for the morning service and sometimes they also visit to the Lancaster Chin Burmese Christian Fellowship's evening worship service.

 

Since their arrival, the church sponsor group has also provided them with transportation to go shopping and to any appointments.

 

Joseph Lian, a Burmese refugee himself, has been the caseworker working closely with the family. "By working as a liaison between the refugees and those supporting them, I've started realizing that kindness and love are the power of human spirit.  As a refugee myself, I've often thought that we are resettled and accepted by a country because of their wealth.  Now I feel that we are here because of the kindness of the people here and we are building a new life thanks to their caring hearts."

The World at Our Door: Informational Events

Is it true that there are hundreds of refugees that have made Central PA their home?  Where are refugees coming from and why?  I enjoy cross-cultural relationships - can I be of help to refugees?  Are there ways for our church to be involved?

Lutheran Refugee Services invites you to attend "The World at Our Door: An Informational Event on Refugee Needs and Opportunities."  

Harrisburg Area:  March 30, 2009 at St. Peter's Lutheran Church (Corner of Spring and Union Sts, Middletown), 7:00 - 8:30pm.

Lancaster Area:  April 14, 2009 at Trinity Lutheran Church (31 S Duke St, Lancaster), 7:00 - 8:30pm.

Refugees that have fled the violence in Burma and Iraq are currently being resettled across Central PA, and you can help welcome them to this safe place to begin their new life.   To attend this free event, contact Nan Garber at nang@lcfsinpa.org or 717-397-4757.  Hope to see you there!

An Appeal for the New Year

At Lutheran Refugee Services, we are finding several tensions as we try to meet the most basic needs of our clients who have recently arrived in this country. In the past, refugees were able to find jobs and were supporting themselves when they timed out of our program after six months. Despite their eagerness to find employment (and they stop by our office daily asking!), the reality of the current economic situation creates a very challenging situation for these newcomers.  Employers seem to have an abundance of applicants to choose from for even entry-level jobs, and it is easy to eliminate those with emerging English skills.

We recognize that these are not folks with an extra car to sell or a savings account to fall back on when times get hard. They do not have extended family to provide a short-term loan or offer to move them into their basement. Many of them were formally given status by the U.S. Government last summer and are still looking for work and trying to settle in. As an organization, we are trying to supplement their rent payments as we are able, at a time when donations are down, and church sponsorships are lagging. 

There are several pleas we have for you at this time:
     -Consider a financial contribution to our Emergency Housing Fund.  This is used 100% to cover refugee bills - no overhead goes to our office.  
     -If you know someone who could hire a full- or part-time employee and would consider partnering with us to employ a motivated worker, please contact us. 
     -And thirdly, if you know a group of persons who might want to join together to provide friendship and transportation for a new family, we would be glad to train and prepare you for one of the Burmese or Iraqi families we expect to arrive in January and February. Some churches can provide a full sponsorship, but we have been tailor-making "sponsorship" arrangements that suit small groups, extended families, or civic groups.

Iraqi Refugee Children

Most of us are several generations removed from when we lacked the resources needed for basic food and shelter. The refugees we serve are a vulnerable population, in a vulnerable time.  Would you consider sharing?  Please contact our office for more information on how you can get involved, and make a difference in the lives of a refugee family.

ESL Tutor Training

Lutheran Refugee Services is sponsoring “Teaching = Friendship: ESL Tutor Training” on Tuesday, November 18, 6:30-9:00 p.m.  The training will be held at Holy Trinity Lutheran Church, 31 S Duke Street in Lancaster.  Informal tutoring is a simple, non-intimidating way to build relationships with refugees and immigrants while helping them learn a critical skill.

This program will offer resources, skills, and ideas for enhancing basic communication.  It will be particularly helpful for volunteers supplementing formal ESL training, persons nurturing cross-cultural friendships, or even volunteers who want to make good use of the wait at the doctor’s office or who host newcomers in their homes! This is not an in-depth training for persons who expect to be professional tutors. You will leave with a new confidence in relating to speakers of other languages, new awareness of your own speech and diction, hand-outs that could be used to begin meeting with persons, and recommendations of helpful resources of varying levels that could be used.

Angela Harnish, a volunteer with our agency, will be facilitating this workshop. She studied teaching English as a Second Language and intercultural communication at the School for International Training in Vermont, and has extensive overseas teaching experience as well as experience working with refugees, immigrants, and supervising tutors in the United States. She comes with a wealth of information and experience wisdom, and engages with an energizing and easily-accessible style.

Everyone is invited to this free event.  Please contact Nan Garber at nang@lcfsinpa.org by November 15 if you are planning to attend.  More details will follow registration.  Hope to see you there!

Reasons to Celebrate - Reasons to Give

On September 27, the local Chin Burmese community took time to commemorate a holiday known as the "Chin New Year."  Much in the spirit of our American Thanksgiving, this is a time when the Chin people gather to celebrate the blessings of the past year, and join in anticipation of a new year to come.  For many years the Chin people have been unable to celebrate this important holiday, because of a fear of being discovered by the Malaysian authorities.  It is estimated that over 80,000 Chin people have fled Burma to seek refuge in neighboring countries such as Malaysia, Thailand, and India.

At Lutheran Refugee Services, the end of September also marks a similar milestone.  As our program year has drawn to a close, we look back with gratitude for the many churches and volunteers who have partnered with us to "Welcome the Stranger" into our central Pennsylvania communities.  With your help, we have provided resettlement, employment, and immigration services to nearly 300 refugees from around the world in the last year.  In addition to the Chin Burmese, we have welcomed Iraqis, Karen Burmese, Liberians, Cubans, Ethiopians, and minority groups from the former Soviet Union.

Looking ahead to the coming months, we urgently need your help.  The Emergency Housing Fund, which provides assistance with rent, household furnishings, and other expenses for families that do not have a church sponsor, has been completely depleted.  This fund provides critical assistance for refugees from the time of arrival until they are able to secure employment.  As refugees are often very eager to begin working and provide for their family, we typically provide this initial support for 3 to 5 months.

Many of us cannot imagine the experience of being uprooted from our homeland and seeking refuge in a strange new country.  We invite you or your congregation to consider a gift of hope and security for a family who has made that long difficult journey.  All donations to the Emergency Housing Fund are tax-deductible, and 100% will go directly to the immediate needs of a refugee family.  You are welcome to send any contributions, or requests for more information, to the address below.

On behalf of those we serve, we are grateful for your generous support of this ministry.  If you have questions or would like more information about ways to get involved, please contact Nan Garber at nang@lcfsinpa.org or Eric Kennel at erick@lcfsinpa.org .  Or you are always welcome to give a ring at 717-397-4757.  We would love to hear from you!

Learning From Each Other in the Workplace

Photo (L - R): Selma Onal, Kasim Karaev, Iryna Degtiarova, and Keith Rufalo

Harrisburg Area Community College (York Campus), a major employer in York county, has begun a new program to help their foreign-language employees succeed in the workplace.  This idea was launched by Mr. Keith Rufalo, HACC Facilities Director, to help encourage better communication with his non-English speaking employees.

One of these dedicated employees is Kasim Karaev, a Meskhetian Turk refugee that was resettled by Lutheran Refugee Services in late 2006.  He was recently hired as a custodian at HACC.  To help address the language barrier, Kasim has been actively participating in English classes offered through his employer. In addition to Kasim's efforts, Mr. Rufalo (his supervisor) has in turn enrolled in Russian classes!

Set up a few times a week, this service aids those who have difficulty speaking English. Why set this up, you may ask? As a result of the increasing influx of foreign workers in today's workplace, services like this are not only appreciated by the employees, but can also nurture camaraderie and communication among co-workers from different cultures. Congratulations to Mr. Rufalo and HACC for beginning this great initiative!  We hope that other employers in the area will also consider the benefits of similar programs.

-Article submitted by Selma Onal, LCFS Staff

June 21: World Refugee Day Event in Lancaster

 

Everyone is welcome at Lancaster's first-ever World Refugee Day celebration, to be held on June 21st at the Eastern Market, 308 E. King Street.  Beginning at 9am, the event will feature multi-cultural cuisine, international arts and crafts and a variety of other locally-grown fresh flowers and produce for sale from Eastern Market vendors.  Children's activities will be available and live international music will be performed throughout the day.  

Representatives of local refugee resettlement organizations, the Lancaster mayor's office, the PA State Refugee Program, and local refugees themselves have been invited to participate in a short program from 11am to 1pm.  There is no admission fee, and the public is encouraged to come out and celebrate the many contributions of refugees in our local community and around the world.

The United Nations General Assembly first recognized World Refugee Day on June 20, 2000, in an effort to celebrate the many contributions of refugees, and raise public awareness of the millions around the world who have been forced to flee their homes.  Since then, World Refugee Day has become an annual event, celebrated in hundreds of cities throughout the world.  According to the United Nations High Commission on Refugees (UNHCR), there are currently 17 million refugees and other "people of concern" scattered across the globe.

The event is being jointly sponsored by the East King Improvement District, Church World Service / Lancaster, and Lutheran Refugee Services in Central PA.  For more information, please contact Mindy Nolt at 717-381-2891 or Eric Kennel at 717-397-4757.

Lancaster Opens New Immigration Program!

LCFS is pleased to announce the recent decision by the Board of Immigration Appeals (BIA), to grant official recognition to the Lancaster Refugee Office.  This decision, which was approved on April 23, allows LCFS to provide clients with a variety of immigration legal services.

Lutheran Social Services of South Central Pennsylvania, who partnered with LCFS to start this service, provided funding to lay the groundwork for this service, paying for staff time and immigration law trainings, an immigration law library, and immigration software needed for recognition.

LCFS will assist refugee and asylee clients with green card applications, replacement documents, family petitions and citizenship applications.  Victoria Harris, Immigration Program Coordinator, who was previously accredited by the BIA to serve clients in LCFS's Philadelphia office, has now been approved to serve clients in Lancaster.  Eric Kennel, Site Director, is also working towards BIA accreditation at this site.

"In today's immigration climate, the services the BIA will allow us to provide are absolutely crucial for our refugee and asylee clients," says Janet Panning, LCFS Refugee Program Director.  "Fleeing persecution and danger in one's home country is so unfathomable to most of us, and yet it's just the tip of the iceberg for so many refugees.  We look forward to easing the transition of making their home in the United States in whatever ways we can."

For more information about this recognition and the immigration services provided at Lutheran Refugee Services, please contact Eric Kennel at 717-397-4757, or via email at erick@lcfsinpa.org.