I know I should not hold my breath but I can’t help it.  The father in our Karenni refugee family started a new job last week!  He completed a 40 hour week; 4 ten-hour days Monday through Thursday.  So far so good!  I think I can let my breath out.

His job is a temp-to-hire position at a company that makes corporate promotional t-shirts and other clothing.  He does general cleaning and shop floor support.

He LOVES it! When I pick him up after work he is practically glowing.

The problem we are working on right now is transportation.  Although it is fortunate that the company is located only ten minutes from his home, it is not on a bus line.  On top of that, he must start work at 6 am.

I did not have a single person volunteer to drive him to work at that early hour.  Go figure!  Thankfully, the W-2 program has arranged for a taxi cab to take him to work temporarily – for one month.  This will give us time to work out a plan.  Currently, four volunteers pick him up from work at 4:30 pm, each taking a different day of the week.  This is working beautifully.

We are busy checking into a possible carpool situation.  He also likes to ride his bicycle and I know he will do that once he is comfortable with the route and the weather cooperates.  This is a heavy traffic area so outfitting him with a helmet and reflective gear is a must.  When we told him about our worries of him biking to work, he laughed it off.  He used to drive a motorized scooter in an overcrowded city in Thailand, weaving in and out of traffic with little concern of his personal safety.  He told us we worry too much.  We told him we like him too much and are prone to worry.  We are not backing down on the helmet!

Our group is so relieved that the demands of the W-2 job search are over!  As a team, we put in 146 hours of time in 6 weeks for serious job search.  Out of this effort came 3 interviews (one by phone, two in person with an interpreter) and 2 calls from companies interested in learning more but discovering the English language barrier too great for the job requirement.  Although nothing we did directly landed him a job, we did learn some valuable things for the future.

For example, the people that arranged the interviews, and the ones that called to find out more, all commented on how much they liked his cover letter…

I wrote a cover letter explaining his refugee status, refugee info in general, and our commitment in supporting him through the job process as well as being resource for providing interpreters and being the liaison between employer and employee.  I also included a phonetic spelling/pronunciation of his name.  This resulted in a lot of positive feedback on the letter, but most of all they appreciated how to say his name when they called! 

We had never had the foresight to send out a cover letter of that kind before.  We used to focus solely on skills, and work ethic but nothing on the situation and support behind him/her.  It certainly helped with the online applications and made him stand out among the other candidates.

In the end, however, it was not the 146 hours we provided for the W-2 program, but rather the staffing company that put him into the first job that lasted only one day back in January placed him in his current position.

It does not matter how he got this job, we’re just super happy he has one.  And so is he!

Our refugee resettlement funds are used up, the Matching Grant program is finished, and job prospects are thin.  This is the first time out of 7 resettlement efforts that we have failed to find at least one member of the family an ongoing job before funds were exhausted.

Now what?

In Wisconsin, this family is eligible for W-2 (Wisconsin Works), which is a welfare-type program.  We have worked hard to avoid this, but now it is our only option.  We’re not happy about this because the W-2 program is quite challenging for an English-language-limited person to succeed and requires an extremely time consuming effort from us as the co-sponsors.
 
There are several subsets to the W-2 program and our refugee family is eligible for only one of them.  It is called CSJ placement – Community Service Job placement.  This is where an individual works a 40-hour week at a job site doing community service in exchange for $673 a month.  English classes will count for 4 hours a week, making his obligation 36 hours per week of community service.
 
Normally, the work done at a job site by the client satisfies the hours requirement.  However, W-2 won’t place him at a work site right away.  They wait for at least 30 days so he can look for a job. 

Looking for a job is his full time obligation and it must be documented each week.  In this case, he must look for a job and document his search to equal 36 hours a week he would normally be working.  Think about that for a moment and let it sink in…  He must do some type of search activity for employment that adds up to 36 hours per week for the next 4 weeks! 
 
He can look in the newspaper, he can look online, he can fill out applications and he can go on interviews.  His drive time does not count except for the time spent BETWEEN appointments, not to and from his home.

So, imagine yourself in this position.  You can’t read English or understand the employment section of the newspaper, you don’t know how to go online, you don’t drive and you also don’t have a clue how to fill out an application, or how to call for an interview.  How do you go about fulfilling your 36 hours of required activity?  Could you even meet this requirement if you weren’t limited by your understanding?

The caseworker does not help you do this – at least his caseworker made it very clear that she would not help.  There are resources out there like free classes on how to interview and write a resume, but think of the amount of English you would need to complete such a class.  And yet it is imperative that each Friday by 4:30 he accounts for 36 hours of documented job searching time.
 
Oh, and one more thing.  He must complete 4 full weeks of this BEFORE getting a full payment of $673.00, which would come out to less than $4 per hour.
 
It will take 4 volunteers, if we can get that many, an extra 9 hours a week on top of regular refugee resettlement activities to pull this off.  That’s going to be tough.  But we’re 3 weeks in now.

Why am I sharing this with you?  I want you to understand that refugee resettlement can be gratifying.  It can be quite rewarding to help another person take back control of their life.  Yet, it doesn’t always go as planned.  Sometimes we have to adjust.  Sometimes we have to venture into areas that are uncomfortable or unknown.

Sometimes we have to face the systems that our society has put in place that we would rather avoid.  Systems like W-2 are, on the one hand life saving, and on the other hand so messed up that those who are not trying to screw the system have trouble making any progress at all!

All of this reinforces the importance of helping refugees become self-sufficient quickly.  We don’t want to mess with public support because it’s too messy and inefficient.  That path should truly be the last resort.

Can I have an Amen!?

It sounds like that should have been the end of the difficulties.  From the perspective of the two families this has been a major relief.  There are no quarrels, no ongoing relationship problems.  Fantastic!

But there is a problem with “the System,” in this case, one small part of public assistance…

Since refugees families arrive with no income we immediately apply for a food card.  This card, like older food stamps, provides the family with a credit for some of their groceries each month.  This helps keep their expenses under control while we search for employment.

(For those who read this and say, “see refugee resettlement does raise my taxes,” slow down.  Yes, we use this benefit.  Please keep in mind that within a few months, most of our refugees are off of assistance and are paying taxes like the rest of us.  They are net contributors into the system, not a burden upon the system.  Part of the reason we can achieve such great results is that some assistance is available when they first arrive.)

Anyway, back to the story… With this two-family resettlement we learned an interesting thing about food assistance.  When the question was raised, “do they eat together?” we answered yes.  After all, they shared the same house.  Well, an affirmative answer meant they would get a single food card.  Ooh, big mistake.  (In retrospect we understand they didn’t even like each other so there’s no way they were eating together.  They weren’t even sharing food.)

So a single food card for two families created some of the tension they experienced while sharing the same house.  “So and so spent too much money on that.”  “I want my own card.”  “How come he gets to carry the card and I don’t?”  Blah, blah, blah…

Nearly two months ago the families separated.  It sounds like it should be a simple task to get two food cards.  But, it is not.

Initially when the first family moved out, we took them grocery shopping to use up “their share” of the food card, stocking their shelves.  It was the middle of the October and they would not get a new card until the beginning of November. 

Then November arrived, still only a single food card, rechared for two families.  Now we had to share it.  We packed up the family living near us, drove them to the family living 25 miles away, and took them all grocery shopping.

But since it is a new month, the single vs. two card scenario could be worked out, by those state employees who work out such issues.

Fast forward to early December.  The original food card is replenished with about half the original amount.  This represents the assistance for the family that moved to Milwaukee.  At least they could just continue using the old card.  That allows one family to eat.  We just had to get the card into the hands of the right family.

The bigger problem arose with the family that stayed in Waukesha.  Apparently, though the process was slow, the notice of the new card was mailed, and then followed up shortly by the mailing of the card.  But by the end of the first week of December it had not arrived.  And there was no one to question, because all associated state employees were, apparently, out of the office.

Then early this week, voice contact was once again established!  We learned that the card had, indeed, been mailed.  BUT, since forwarding a food card to a new address is somehow illegal, the postal service returned it to sender.  (What, no one ever moves?)

The card was therefore cancelled, and no one was notified.  Nice, huh? 

So we start the process once again.  It’s now the end of the second week in December and our family does not have their food assistance yet.  Their cash is low.  Our team’s funds are gone.  We’re relying on individual donations at the moment.

We’ve learned a lot with this particular resettlement case.  After a number of very successful resettlements, this double case has been more than double effort.  At first it seemed logical to handle two related families, as if we could “kill two birds with one stone.”  We deviated from our proven model and it’s costing us extra time, extra money, and risking burnout of team members.

It’s the burnout that is the worst part of all.  It means little bumps in the road, which are a normal course of resettlement, seem much bigger.  Stress goes up and there is reluctance to continue.  A burned out team does not jump back in to take on another case.  It means our future effectiveness may also be negatively impacted.

Food cards arrived in the mail today!  As one of our team members was attempting to explain the card and its usage to the family a 7th grade bilingual Burmese boy walked in.  He was able to interpret some of the details simplifying the conversation.  I often point out that interpreters are not necessary for many of the day-to-day tasks, but their presence sure does speed things up and, most of the time, helps reduce the potential for confusion.

Besides the food card, their Forward card arrived too.  The Forward card is medical assistance provided by the State of Wisconsin.  Now medical appointments will become a little easier because these are presented just like insurance cards in advance of treatment.

One more family member had a medical checkup and immunizations today.  That means four down, four to go.

On a completely different subject I would like to mention that Bryn and I were out of town this past weekend.  I point this out because it is important in any resettlement team that the team members are able to get away a various times. 

One of the biggest problems we see in resettlement efforts of other groups is that too few people try to do too much for too long.  This results in burn-out.  That’s not good for the refugees.  It’s not good for the volunteers.  It’s not good for the process because those volunteers are likely give up after the experience. 

If you’ve got a big team, trust the team members to handle things while you’re away.  If you’ve got a small team, trust that the refugees can be on their own for a few days.  You need a break too.

Wow, there was a lot happening today…

First thing this morning I got a call from one of our co-chairs.  She had gotten a call saying that a wash machine repair person would be at the house at 8:30 this morning, wondering if she could meet him there.  She agreed.

She was wondering if I knew about any other things happening today.  I said I thought we had drivers picking them up for a visit to the Workforce Development center today for their food and medical assistance meeting, but I didn’t think it would be that early.  She assured me it would be that early, but she thought it was tomorrow.   Together we combined to be one correct person.  The meeting was today at 8:30.  Clearly neither of us had checked our collective calender.  Fortunately those involved were all aware.

The driver arrived at about the same time as our co-chair.  With two Americans present they were able to convince the newcomers to leave their children at home to avoid the 4 hour appointment.  The crying only took about 15 minutes to stop so it worked out OK.  A noisy riding toy that was donated yesterday proved to be the trick to capture the attention of the crying boy.

Meanwhile the appointment at the Workforce Development Center (WFDC) did not take nearly as long as normal.  It was only about an hour and a half. 

If you read much of my writing in this blog, in other blogs, or in my book you’ll see that I am quite positive in my feelings toward the motives of other people.  I tend to give the benefit of doubt to others.  Some may call it naive.  I just happen to think that people are basically good and try to solve things in the best possible way, when they know how.  Where I do express some cynicism is in relation to “the system.”  Mostly though it’s a mocking humor because no one person could conceive of the craziness involved in various aspects of “the system.”

For example, in regard to the Workforce Development Center today, the appointment only took 1.5 hours instead of 4.  It turns out that the person helping out today has not handled a case like this in years.  So I joked that she wasn’t experienced enough to remember how to drag out a 1 hour meeting to 4 hours anymore. :)

One member on our resettlement team has worked exclusively with Burmese refugees over the years.  She has developed quite a network within that community.  So, for today’s WFDC visit, she was able to get a former refugee to help interpret.  It’s quite a convenience when we can get an interpretor that has been through a comparable experience.

A story from a few days ago was brought up at our team meeting tonight.  It concerned some blankets that were found at the house on move-in day.  It appeared to be a box of ratty blankets, the type we would wonder who was trying to pass off junk as a good donation.  One of the co-chairs took the box out to the garage, where we triage before committing goods.

The next day the box was back in the house.  Clearly someone wanted them.  The co-chair asked about them wondering if they “really wanted these old smelly things” and received confirmation that she believed meant they did want to keep them.  With the washing machine not working at the time, she decided to take them and wash them.  She had to give assurances that she’d bring them back.

As she pulled the blankets out to wash, she noticed writing on them that was clearly not English.  Finally it dawned on her that these blankets were precious possessions that a member of the refugee family carried with him in his luggage.

When she returned them the owner picked one up and sniffed it.  He said, “not smelly.”  And then, she believes, he tried to tell her they were from his mother.  Another good lesson for us.

This is the first chance we’ve had to get the resettlement team back together since the family arrived just over two weeks ago.  Even so, we had only a total of 6 people available for the meeting.  We’d usually hope for more, but things are moving forward pretty good, so a small core was sufficient.

Two of those present were not from our team.  They were visitors from another church, quite significantly, the church that has resettled the relatives of our current family.  Their team was surprised to recently discover all the extra people living in their family’s apartment.  I can imagine that shock.  Our meeting tonight was a good opportunity to explain our situation and also learn from their experience.  This is their first resettlement experience and it sounds like they’ve been doing a great job.

Primary discussion was that of donations and move-in day.  We have nearly complete coverage of all required items (i.e. those items required by the U.S. State Department  ensuring that refugees receive a basic standard of living and are not just being dumped into tough conditions in a new country) and a fair number of niceties as well.

One of the interesting requirements is that each person have a bed.   It turns out that finding complete beds is usually one of our more difficult tasks, especially when we’re working with larger families.  What makes this requirement interesting is that often the beds go unused.  In some case, beds are not typical culturally.  So we provide them only to discover later they are used for storing other items, a gentle cushion upon which other goods can rest.

Often families have been living together in tight quarters so the are most comfortable to sleep all together on the floor.  We’re not here to push them into what we would call “normal” behavior.  But we make our “normal” available to them.  In time separate beds and bedrooms become appreciated.  We’ve not had a refugee family yet that threw away the beds to make more space available.

Our move-in day will start at 9 a.m. Saturday.  We have several teams ready to pick up donations.  Our previous Burmese refugee family, of Karen ethnicity, has volunteered to make lunch, comfort food for the new family.

Our meeting agenda also included discussion of the matching grant, a welfare alternative designed to financially help the refugees for 3 to 4 months while an aggressively looking for employment. 

Whether they receive the grant or apply for the state welfare program is the refugee family’s choice to make.  We strongly encourage acceptance of the grant because it saves our resettlement team from dealing with one aspect of “the system.”  It also frees up the family to job search and study English without the well-meaning, but cumbersome requirements of welfare.

We also shared an update on the status of applying for a food card.  Food assistance is available for low income families in Wisconsin, but each program is run by individual counties.  We typically apply within days of their arrival, but since they are temporarily in Milwaukee county, we’ve been unable to make real progress.  This could hurt later on as a delay will increase our need to provide food longer than anticipated and therefore at greater expense.