ROCHESTER REFUGEE

RESETTLEMENT SERVICES

quarterly newsletter

Hello friends of Rochester Refugee Resettlement Services!

This is RRRS’s first quarterly newsletter, keeping you up todate with our goals and projects as well as sharingpossibilities for involvement with our local New Americancommunity! We have been serving New Americans inRochester since 2010 - this term includes refugees, asylumseekers, immigrants, and “no one left behind” (natives whohave served our military in their home country).

This newsletter highlights a few of our latest projects, andyou can also learn more about our many other programs bychecking out our new website:

https://www.rochesterrefugeeservices.org/

this issue:Asylum seekers

City Rise Healthy Home

project

Advancing Refugee Student

Educational Opportunities

Rochester Refugee Sewing &

Repair's new rag rugs

How you can get involved!

SUMMER 2020

for more information about this program, contact Katie Kopp (kakopp9@gmail.com)or Mike Coniff (coniffmike@gmail.com)

ASYLUM SEEKERSASYLUM SEEKERSA refugee is a person who has fled their country oforigin and is unable or unwilling to return becauseof a well-founded fear of being persecuted due totheir race, religion, nationality, political opinion, ormembership in a particular social group. Ourorganization was founded to help the refugeepopulation in Rochester, and we have nowexpanded to include asylum seekers too!

An asylum seeker is someone who claims to be arefugee but whose claim has not been evaluated bythe government yet. The majority of asylum seekersare people who come to the border without legaldocumentation, and they are usually detained at theborder and kept in ICE detention centers. At RRRS,we work with asylum seekers who have beenparoled from the detention centers, and we are alsoin the process of sponsoring more detained asylumseekers so that they can be paroled and come toRochester, where we can then support them in anumber of ways. The other category of asylumseekers consists of people who are in the US, suchas on a visitor’s visa or student visa, who apply forasylum when they are already here. At RRRS, we arenow working with asylum seekers from bothcategories as well as people who have already beengranted asylum.

This photo shows one of our asylumseekers, Sharon (second from left) with

part of our volunteer team that managesthe asylum seeker cases. Sharon and her

father are fleeing from violence andpolitical persecution in Cameroon, and we

are helping them settle into a safe lifehere in Rochester as well as build their

cases for asylum.

Asylum seekers face many challenges in their pathto a safer life. First, they must escape fromincredibly dangerous situations in their homecountries. Our current cases include a familyescaping from ethnic cleansing in Myanmar, afamily targeted for aiding a democratic revolutionin Sudan, and an individual caught between armedseparatist groups and a corrupt government inCameroon.

In addition to these threats, asylum seekers facemany obstacles in the US immigration system.They do not have the right to an attorney, and theimmigration legal system is highly complex.Additionally, asylum applicants wait an average of1,030 days (almost 3 years) for their cases to bedecided, and many do not even speak English.Furthermore, they must wait a year after filingtheir asylum application to apply for authorizationto work in the US, and they are not eligible forgovernment aid.

Here at RRRS, we are committed to supporting ourasylum seekers with housing, food, clothing,English lessons, employment, and connections tofree legal assistance, all in the hopes that we canhelp them to be granted asylum and establish asafe, healthy, and productive life here in ourRochester community.

Our City Rise project is developing aninnovative, in-home training program topromote healthy housing for refugee andasylum seeker tenants who may be unfamiliarwith North American-style housing. Theultimate goal of the program is to provideservices, opportunities, and assistance to ourNew Americans as they strive to be self-sustaining neighbors while still maintainingtheir own cultural heritage.

The Healthy Home program will consist of:one-on-one training about how to maintain a

ARSEO strives to prepare Rochester-arearefugee high school students to make informeddecisions regarding their post-secondaryeducation that match their personal goals,interests, aptitudes, and career aspirations. Wefacilitate each participant’s self-exploration oftheir own personal values, desires, and dreams,tracing these to possible future careers. ARSEOseeks to empower participants with exposureto a broad range of post-secondary educationalopportunities, including trade schools,colleges, and research universities.Participants also receive a thorough overviewof the requirements, expectations, anddeadlines in the process of applying fordifferent institutions across post-secondaryeducation.

Alongside essay workshops, standardizedtesting preparation, and resume building,

City Rise Healthy Home Project

for more information about either of these programs, contact Ngo Hna(ngohna@rochesterrefugee.org)

Advancing Refugee Student Educational

Opportunities (ARSEO)

students have the opportunity to visit localcolleges. Mentorship and exploration areenhanced by a number of guest speakers in thefields of government, healthcare, business, andeducation, in addition to site visits to relevantwork locations in these fields. Studentsultimately leave the program having madeimportant connections with peer mentors,community leaders, and college staff, as well aswith a better understanding of their next stepsand where they might lead.

advocates for tenants and landlords, andinterpreters as needed.

Although different people have varying ways ofliving, we believe that maintaining a clean,hygienic home is an essential skill for our NewAmericans in their journeys to new healthy andhappy lives.

clean home, the provisionof cleaning supplies, ahealthy home workshop, apractical and motivationalcleaning schedule,

Roches te r Re fugee Sew ing & Repa i r ' s

HANDMADE RAG RUGS

Rochester Refugee Sewing & Repair is excited toannounce the launch of our heirloom-qualityhandmade braided rugs! These beautiful rugs arenow being sold in addition to our usual scrunchies,tote bags, and in the time of the COVID-19pandemic, face masks.

Each rug employs the work of up to four refugees,from cutting to braiding to finally sewing. After thebraiding is completed, sewists pick the colors they

In these photos you can see Samim holding Herat, a 28” rug with concentric circles of cornflower and rose.Charlotte is holding Beni, 30”, made with sky blue and green-flecked neutrals.

Check out the rugs on our website: https://rochesterrefugee.org/limited-editions

like, sort them, and create these beautiful pieces.The rugs are seamed together with the highest-quality thread and made from lovingly-selectedoffcuts and scraps rescued for reuse. In the greattradition of grandmothers sewing rag-rugs acrossthe world, we have brought these rugs to your hometo last for generations. Every purchase funds theemployment, training, and support of NewAmericans resettled in our community.

HOW YOU CAN HELPHOW YOU CAN HELP

Training drivers - if you have taught your kids todrive, you can help teach our New AmericansVolunteer with our Deaf Refugee Advocacyprogram - help with literacy classes, paperworkassistance, and social and cultural eventsCollege-aged volunteers can be peer mentors forour ARSEO refugee high school student programAssist our staff as they upgrade, rehab, andmaintain our housingVolunteer as an English language tutorMedical professionals can volunteer to providementorship and support to New Americanhealthcare workersAnd more!

Volunteer

We welcome:

◘ one-time or continuous involvement in any of ourvarious projects ◘ high school and college interns ◘ individuals and groups for one-day painting and

housing projects ◘ churches who may want tosponsor a family by helping them adjust to life in

Rochester ◘ and more!

Ways you can volunteer:

https://www.rochesterrefugeeservices.org/volunteer/

Donate

Click this link to donate moneydirectly to our organization.

Donations of working appliances(stoves, refrigerators, washers,dryers etc.) and cash help us equipour houses so that our NewAmerican families can functionsuccessfully in our community.

Donations of operationalcomputers (both laptops and PCswork) with at least 5G memoryhelp our adult computer trainingprogram and go to refugees andasylum seekers in need.

Buy from Rochester Refugee Sewing& Repair and/or share the link to

buy rugs and masks!

https://rochesterrefugee.org/shop