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. 

Introduction to Refugee Medical Access

Here is a brief introduction to refugee medical care. Most of this information is true for all refugees but it is specific to Multnomah County. If your family is in the Washington county area and you still have questions, please feel free to contact Jeanne Toal, our volunteer coordinator, or the family’s case manager.

When refugees first arrive they have what is called an “open medical card”—they have not been assigned to a clinic, they do not have a primary care provider, but they are covered in case they have to go to the emergency room. After the refugee’s intake, their case manager will refer them to the Department of Human Services (DHS) which signs them up for refugee medical insurance through the Oregon Health Plan (OHP)—aka Medicaid. At their DHS appointment, every refugee will be given an OHP insurance card. 

[Side note: OHP provides insurance through several different systems—some refugees might have cards that say CareOregon, some might have Providence insurance, and others might even have insurance through Kaiser. This will affect which clinic they are assigned to but it does not mean that they get different benefits.]  

After being signed up for insurance, every refugee must be taken to a medical screening at the Mid County Health Center within a few weeks of arrival. EVERY refugee has to go to this medical screening. Afterwards, they will be assigned to a primary care clinic that should be closer to them (though due to some clinics getting overwhelmed with patients, this is not always the case). During the initial medical screening immunizations are sometimes given for free to the entire family—other times, only the children are immunized. In some other cases, the clinic may ask the refugee family to go to their primary care provider at their assigned clinic for immunizations.

Refugee medical insurance is the equivalent of OHP plus—in short, they get medical, dental, and mental health benefits but their benefits do not extend to vision care. All care is coordinated through the primary care provider at the refugee’s assigned clinic. If a refugee has forgotten where his or her clinic is, they can call the number on the back of their insurance card and tell them their member ID number (listed on the front of the card).

OHP plus benefits only last for the first eight months after a refugee’s arrival. After that they must apply to extend their benefits. Case managers can and do help families with this transition but the families must get an application to extend benefits from DHS themselves. If benefits can be extended (depending on eligibility under DHS guidelines) individuals may or may not receive OHP plus again—more likely OHP which does not include dental—except for very young children who are still eligible for OHP plus.

Since OHP plus extends to the first eight months of a refugee’s time in Oregon, it is important for families to take care of any necessary medical or dental work as soon as possible. Immunizations are particularly important, as they are required for status adjustment application for green card after 1 year (aka permanent residency), and for school attendance. Refugees can get immunizations from their primary care providers—they just need to ask for them. Many clinics now charge small fees for immunizations, which may discourage some families, but it is significantly cheaper for them to pay these fees during the first eight months than to make up all of the missing immunizations during the green card application process. If there are a lot of children in the family it may be cheaper to register the kids for a School-Based Health Clinic  where they can get immunizations--though make sure to remind families to bring their yellow immunization records with them to every visit! 

As always, if you have any questions about any of this information, please don’t hesitate to email Jeanne, our volunteer coordinator.

Refugee Vision Clinic

Dr. Carkner in action

Carkner Family Vision Care donated more than a dozen eye exams and glasses to refugees settled by Catholic Charities during a vision clinic held in February. We have been delivering the glasses this week and the recipients are thrilled with the results. 

     These clinics are a great opportunity for our refugee families since typically their insurance does not provide for basic vision care when they get to the United States. We had been working for some time to address this gap when Dr. Carkner, OD, generously volunteered his team's time and resources. 

     We will continue to hold these vision clinics monthly with Carkner Family Vision Care. If members of the refugee families with whom you volunteer are in need of glasses then please call us and let us know.We will happily add them to our waiting list (the vision clinic can handle about a dozen patients each month). Thanks again to Dr. Carkner, OD, and his team!

This Bhutanese couple received two pairs of bifocals

Jesuit Volunteers

Here at Catholic Charities, we have lots of different kinds of volunteers: from those who help settle families, to office helpers, to a particular type of volunteer--the Jesuit Volunteer.



Sarah Dupont is a Jesuit volunteer (or "JV") who works at Catholic Charities here in Portland.  She offered some insight into the work that the Jesuit Volunteers do and her own personal experiences with the program and with Catholic Charities here in Portland:

What exactly are Jesuit volunteers?

            Jesuit Volunteers are individuals who commit to a year of service with a marginalized population. Most JVs have just graduated from college (usually a Jesuit College!) though some JVs are older adults wanting to do some serious service. JVs by four core values: Simplicity, Social Justice, Spirituality and Community. We live in communities with other JVs and together we try to explore these values. My position is funded by an AmeriCorps grant through JVC Northwest.

How did you decide to become a volunteer?

I decided to become a volunteer because I several friends who had done it and it changed their lives. I wanted to be “ruined for life” (a favorite JV expression)—meaning I wanted to nurture my passion for service so that it would last through my future career.

How does the application/selection/placement process work? 

In JVC Northwest you get a chance to list your top choices for a placement or a location but it does not guarantee a specific placement. The JVC Northwest office spends a lot of time carefully deliberating which JV would make the biggest difference where. My first choice placement happened to be with Catholic Charities Refugee Resettlement—I had worked with refugee families before and I knew that I wanted to do it again. I had a passion for helping refugees and I wanted to spend a year learning more about the resettlement programs in the United States.

What do you like the most about being a Jesuit volunteer?

I love the community—they are incredibly supportive. Working in refugee resettlement, though it is full of wonderful relationships, can be tough. Sometimes it really gets to me when I cannot solve all of a family’s problems. In those moments it is great to be able to go home and talk through these issues with friends who are experiencing the same kinds of things. Also, my community is just tons of fun. We make sure to take a break from talking about work and do fun things like bowling, cooking Indian food, hiking, etc.

What do you like the most about working at Catholic Charities?

I love how passionate everyone seems to be about their work. People really do care about the individuals with whom they are working. I also like the focus on human dignity when we are working with our clients (a very Jesuit ideal!).

How do you like Portland?

Portland has been great—it is pretty different than Salt Lake City (where I grew up). To describe it in short, I think those “keep Portland weird” bumper stickers are working.

What are your housemates like?

My housemates are some of the most caring and amazing people you will ever encounter. Each and every one of them is incredibly dedicated to their work and the people they work with. Four of us work at Catholic Charities—the others work around Portland in different social service agencies.  

What is the most challenging part of being a Jesuit volunteer?

The most challenging part of being a Jesuit volunteer is becoming very familiar with the ways that systems are “broken” (be it housing, DHS, immigration, whatever) and not being able to fix it. I know that all of my housemates and I feel like there is nothing harder than having to tell someone who comes to you for help, “yeah, that really is unfair, I am sorry, but I cannot do anything for you.”

Would you recommend being a Jesuit volunteer to other people? What advice would you give young people who are thinking of joining?

I highly recommend becoming a Jesuit Volunteer—it rocks! If you are thinking of joining JVC Northwest then I would contact their office and ask them to put you in touch with a current JV. Find out as much as you can about their life and what are the highs and lows of being a JV. (as you can probably tell by now, we love to talk!)

Do you have any particularly funny anecdotes about being a Jesuit volunteer?

I mentioned that our house does regular fun activities together, right? Well a few weeks ago some of us were just feeling depressed about injustices in the world so we decided to do something extra special for our community night. We had already planned to go bowling but we decided to spice it up a bit and wore fake mustaches and wigs to the local bowling alley. Once there, we choreographed cheers for whoever got a strike/spare. The city of Gresham now thinks that we are insane, but it cheered us up immensely.

Income-Based Housing: The 'Holy Grail' of Resettlement

     It's no secret--finding affordable housing in Portland is tough. Paying rent and utilities with only refugee benefits could have been the 13th labor of Hercules.We all know refugee families are struggling to cover their rent each month and that they are desperate for more affordable housing--so what can we do about it?

There is no immediate solution but there is a place to start: HousingConnections.org 

      HousingConnections is a website run by the Portland Housing Bureau where landlords can list affordable properties. Even more critical to our clients, HousingConnections regularly updates a list of income-based properties (places where a resident pays 30% of their monthly income for rent--i.e. if they have no income they will pay nothing) with open wait lists. To search for these units you simply go to housingconnections.org, click on "search housing" and fill out the search fields based on family size, location, etc. [see snapshot of their website on the right]. Under "availability" search for "No units available--waitlist open" and check the box for "income-based rent." A list of properties will appear that, when clicked, will give links to property management companies and their applications.   

     As you can imagine, income-based units are in high-demand-- wait lists for units are only opened if the expected wait-time is less than 2 years. Getting a family on a wait list will not solve their immediate financial troubles but it will start the process whereby they can eventually get into affordable housing. Depending on the size of the family it could take 1-2 years before their name reaches the top of a wait list. This is why it is important to get a family onto numerous wait lists as soon as possible. (Note: the open wait lists on housingconnections.org changes from week to week).

     We have had some great successes with getting families into income-based rent. Last month a Burmese family of 9 moved into Kateri Park and they are only paying $35/mo to stay there. The family can now use their TANF benefits to pay for utilities and buy shoes and school supplies for their seven kids while Dad searches for a job. And do you remember Deborah (her interview is a few posts back)? she just moved to New Columbia Villa where not only are they paying next-to-nothing in rent but they have access to parks, a grocery store located in the complex, after-school activities, and more-accessible ESL classes. Again, it was not easy to get families into these places but once they got there it made a world of difference. Contact me (Sarah) or Jeanne if you have any other questions about applying for these places.