Family Reunification

Last Friday a man came into our drop-in center to ask for help getting his elderly brother, José, to Portland. Apparently José was being resettled as a refugee in the United States but since he could not remember where exactly his brother lived, he was being sent to another city. José’s brother was beside himself with worry that José, who speaks no English, would be alone in a strange city and that he would never see him again. Since he himself had been resettled by Catholic Charities years ago, he came to us for help getting his brother to Portland. I spent the next several days making phone calls to the other side of the country and sending inquiries to national offices. In the end, we figured out where José was going and requested that his case be transferred to our office in Portland. Though it took a little while to track down his case, it was very special to me that I got to be a part of reuniting a family.

Our case managers are frequently involved in family reunifications. Among the first questions refugee arrivals ask our case managers is how they can help family members to join them in the United States. Many refugees are separated from family members in the course of fleeing their home country or even during the resettlement process. If your refugee family feels comfortable talking about it, ask them about family they may have overseas—it may surprise you who they had to leave behind. If a refugee with whom you volunteer does ask about bringing family members to the United States, please refer them to their case manager (the process is complicated!).

A lot of the refugees we resettle are coming to join family and our case managers are asked to confirm that the family in the United States knows that they are coming. On any given day in our office you’ll likely overhear one of our case managers telling someone that their mother/brother/son/cousin is coming to join them in Oregon. This week we were a part of a very special reunification—we were asked to resettle a ten year old boy with his mother in Portland who had not seen him for more than 5 years. (see the picture to the right).  As said by our program manager, Cecilia, “It makes all of the difficulties of resettlement disappear for a moment when you see a family together again—it’s like every holiday rolled into one moment.” 

Library Resources

     Just a reminder to all of our volunteers--we have lots of children's books here at Catholic Charities. Encouraging kids to read can really help them to learn English and succeed in school. If any of you work with families that have young kids then feel free to stop by and pick up some picture books for them!

     Speaking of reading, we also wanted to remind you that local libraries are great resources for refugees. It might be a good idea to take a trip to explore the local library with your refugee family to make sure that they know how to check out books, to ask for help and to use the library computers. Here are just a few of the programs that could benefit refugee families (click on the highlighted words for scheduling and more specific information):
     Multnomah County Libraries have classes, craft hours and story times nearly every day at different locations.

     For refugee adults and teens unfamiliar with computers there are "Techno Hosts" times where library staff are available to work one-on-one with any patron to teach them how to save documents, open email accounts, print pages, etc.
     For toddlers, pre-schoolers, and even the whole family there are "Story Times" to encourage a love of reading. Story times are held on weekday mornings, on the weekends, and even in the evenings. In some locations--like Rockwood, Midlands, and Gresham--these story times are directed towards families trying to learn English.
     For teens there is a program called "Teen Lounge" that provides a space for kids in grades 6th-12th to work on homework, play games and meet other teenagers. Teen lounges are typically in the middle of the week after school.
     For teens, adults, and families near the Rockwood library there are Saturday Craft Hours at 1:30pm and Sunday Movie Matinees at 3:30pm.
     There are also numerous programs for parents trying to learn English and find jobs. The Gresham library holds a "Job Seekers Support Group" on Monday afternoons. Several other libraries also have dedicated computer lab times for Job Seekers during the week. The Gresham library also offers a "Learning Lab: Guide to English Language Learning Resources" on Sunday afternoons to introduce English language learners to online ESL resources. And finally, as mentioned in the last post, the Midlands library holds "Talk Time" for English language learners looking to practice conversational English.

     Washington County's library system also offers a variety of programs. Click here to check out their story times for kids and families and click here for their teen programs.

Free ESL classes--part 1

Most refugees realize that they need to learn English to be successful in the United States. Adult refugees attend job-based English classes at IRCO four days per week when they first get to Portland. And, of course, one of the main services our wonderful volunteers offer is to work on English language skills with refugee families. 

In addition to these resources, there are a variety of free English classes and conversation practice groups available for adults who are looking for more English assistance. Many of our refugees are referred to Portland Community College's English for Speakers of Other Languages program (which is a great place to start--for more information click here) or Mt. Hood Community College ($30/term, for more information click here) but for those refugees who are looking for classes outside of PCC or MHCC, there are other free ESL options available in the community (some even include childcare!). Here is a short list of a few of those options—though it is by no means a complete list of everything that is out there!:

 

Madison High School (2735 NE 82^nd Avenue), through their SUN program, is offering free classes starting April 9th, 2012. On Mondays from 6-7pm they offer a beginners English class and on Tuesdays from 6-7pm they offer an intermediate class. They do request that participants register in advance—they can either call Gwen White (503-916-5338) or volunteers can contact Jeanne or Sarah for a copy of the registration form.

 Ron Russell Middle School (3955 SE 112^th Avenue) is also offering free ESL classes through their SUN program for all levels on Mondays and Wednesdays from 6-7:30pm, again beginning April 9^th. The contact person for these classes is Hilda Sanchez, Family Outreach Coordinator (503-256-6500 X5624).

Goodwill Industries of the Columbia Willamette continues to offer multiple levels of free ESL classes for adults (1943 SE 6^th Ave). Participants must take a placement test to register—for more information, visit their website by clicking here.

For simple conversation practice (not a class) refugee adults can go to the Midlands Library (805 SE 122^nd Ave) on Saturdays 3:30-5pm. Conversation circles are for people trying to improve their speaking skills and are conducted solely in English. For more details, see their flyer by clicking here.

For more classes—particularly in Beaverton—look for part 2 of this post in the next few weeks.