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LSI awarded grant to identify refugee needs in southeast Iowa
Muscatine, Iowa – Lutheran Services in Iowa (LSI) recently received a grant of $900 from the United Fund of Columbus Junction to conduct a census of Columbus Junction’s Burmese population. LSI’s Muscatine Refugee Community Services program, which assists refugees in becoming self-sufficient and independent, will do the census to learn about the needs of the Burmese community.
“We’re hoping to learn about the population and issues they may be struggling with to determine what needs exist,” said Jill Schnoebelen, LSI community resource supervisor. “We’ll be exploring the needs of the current Burmese community members and identifying what future needs would arise if additional family members someday join them. For example, that could involve working with the local schools, identifying affordable housing or promoting cultural sensitivity and diversity training.”
The refugees in both Muscatine and Columbus Junction are secondary migrants. They were originally resettled to other states, predominately Minnesota and New York for the Liberian refugees in Muscatine and Indiana for the Burmese in Columbus Junction. Most moved to Eastern Iowa due to employment opportunities and family ties, said Schnoebelen.
With the grant, LSI will explore the community’s needs, identify gaps in service and determine if future services may be needed in Columbus Junction. Staff will meet with Burmese community leaders and individually with Burmese households to gather information on demographics, such as age, family composition, education level and English ability.
Muscatine Refugee Community Services empowers refugees to become independent and self-sufficient through community resource referrals, skill development and mentor relationships. With support and guidance, refugees consistently achieve success in transitioning to self-sufficiency, becoming engaged community members. RCS also provides advocacy and education to the larger community and works collaboratively with other local programs to provide services to refugees.
Volunteers are critical in teaching English or computer skills, serving as cultural interpreters and befriending these new citizens. Volunteer mentors assist refugees with individual needs, which could include literacy, parenting skills, financial planning, locating affordable housing or childcare and navigating school or legal systems.
LSI also provides resettlement services to refugees in the Des Moines and Waterloo communities through its Refugee Cooperative Services (RCS) program, a partnership of LSI and Catholic Charities. Since 1975, approximately 26,000 refugees have been resettled to Iowa. Since 1995, RCS has helped resettle nearly one-third of Iowa’s refugee population.
LSI impacts the lives of tens of thousands of Iowans annually through residential treatment, services to families, home health care, early childhood programs, adoption/foster care services, refugee resettlement, services for people with disabilities, disaster response initiatives and Barnabas Uplift. LSI serves people of all ages, genders, nationalities, religions, ethnicities and sexual orientations and is affiliated with Lutheran Services in America and three Iowa synods of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America. To learn more, visit www.lsiowa.org.
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