We’d like to thank all of the donors and supporters who have contributed to our COVID relief efforts over the last 10 months. Because of your generosity, USCRI Vermont has been able to assemble and distribute hundreds care packages of food, household items, cleaning products, toiletries, and personal care items to over 350 households dealing with the impacts of COVID – Thank you!
Ahmed Omar – Owner of Kismayo Kitchen
My name is Ahmed Omar – My family arrived in Vermont in 2003 as war refugees from Somalia. After spending six years in Kenya at a refugee camp, my mom, brother, and my two nieces resettled in Burlington, VT through the Vermont Refugee Resettlement Program (now USCRI Vermont). I was 17 years old, and found acclimating to my new home pretty tough, yet felt a sense of relief that maybe this was the place for me. The experience of resettling in Vermont after many years in a refugee camp really opened my eyes, and during these years cooking became my passion.
As long as I can remember, I have always loved cooking. About three weeks after arriving in Vermont, I found a job at a local fast food restaurant in Burlington. Over the next few years I took cooking classes, worked in catering, and enrolled in college before finally getting into culinary school. Now I own my own restaurant. Opening Kismayo, the first Somali restaurant in Burlington, is a lifelong dream – And now I can share my passion with everyone. I have seven employees and business is great. It’s been incredible to bring this cuisine from my home country to the people of this city, and is my way of helping build and give back to the community in this place I call home.
Program Update – Chromebooks for Families
Over the last four months USCRI staff have been dropping free Chromebooks to refugee and immigrant families throughout the community as a part of our larger Digital Literacy and online access campaign. Funded through a grant from the state CARES Act, the new laptops will help our clients and their families access school classes, employment resources, English Language Learning courses, and other web-based services. We’d like to thank our supporters in the legislature and the Governor’s Office for their help improving online access and bridging the digital divide for those in need.
USCRI Staff in the News
“I left the Marrakech medina two years ago, and this love letter has been in my heart ever since. I was teaching at a university in Marrakech, and in my second year I found an apartment that met all my needs: It was deep in the medina, the old city, with a rooftop terrace. Inside the medina, there’s always this background noise — drumming and dancing and the sound of thousands of people passing through. There were, I think, seven mosques within sight of my terrace, and five times a day the call to prayer would start from each of them a few seconds apart, like a battle of the voices.
I learned about the cold of the desert — my house was open, so when it would go down to 40 degrees, I’d basically be camping in my bedroom with sleeping bags. I have a ticket to Morocco in February. I’m not sure I’ll be able to use it yet, but I’m holding on to that ticket with all of my heart.”
Immigrant Families COVID Fund
In 2020, the CARES Act excluded many people from receiving stimulus payments because of their immigration status. In response to this exclusion, the state joined organizations including USCRI Vermont, Association of Africans Living in Vermont, Migrant Justice, and Vermont Legal Aid to establish the Economic Stimulus Equity Fund. Also known as the Immigrant Families COVID Fund, these resources are made available through a partnership with the Vermont Community Foundation. For more information about the Fund and who qualifies, enter bit.ly/VTCovidEquity into your browser.
Mosaic of Flavor Cooking Series
Our instructor Ahlam Al Attar is originally from Bagdad and moved with her husband and daughter to Burlington in February 2015. Ahlam is a chemical engineer and enjoys discussing the parallels between chemistry and cooking. Ahlam learned her love of cooking from her mother and enjoys cooking for large family events and teaching people about Iraqi food.
This livestream event will be held on the Microsoft Teams platform, and instructions for downloading the platform and a link to the event will be sent out to participants in advance. The event is free, but a suggested $10 minimum donation to USCRI’s efforts in VT is requested. To register, click on the Mosaic of Flavor class information link:
https://www.citymarket.coop/category/event-categories/mosaic-flavor
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Economic Impacts of New Americans
Each year New Americans contribute more than $712 million to the GDP of Chittenden County. Foreign-born residents also contribute approximately $90 million annually to federal, state, and local taxes.
This leaves foreign-born residents with over $168 million to spend in local communities. Since 2008, new immigrants have added over $25 million to the value of the county’s housing stock.
Source – Champlain Valley Office of Economic Opportunity
Thank You to our Donors & Supporters
We would like to thank all of our donors, partners, and ongoing supporters who make the services and programs we offer possible, including recent donors the Vermont State Employees Credit Union, Joseph and Karen Lambert, the Elliqua Fund/Oregon Community Foundation, Hoyle Tanner & Associates, Sally von Trapp, Judith Dickson, Tyler Doggett, MSK Attorneys, Judy Geer, Marcella Gange, Taylor Ricketts, Jacob Edgar and Deidre Holmes, Arline Duffy, Jeremy Harris, Lynda Goldsmith, and the Junior League of the Champlain Valley Diaper Bank. To make a contribution, click on the Donate button below and choose “Refugees and Immigrants in Vermont” in the drop-down menu on the donation form.
Also follow us on Facebook at www.facebook.com/USCRIVT.
Your donation to USCRI Vermont helps refugee and immigrant families build new lives right here in our community. Please click below and make a gift.
Copyright ©2020 U.S. Committee for Refugees and Immigrants. All rights reserved.
U.S. Committee for Refugees and Immigrants, Colchester Office
462 Hegeman Ave, Suite 101, Colchester, VT 05446
Phone: 802-655-1963
www.refugee.org/uscri-vermont/
info@uscrivt.org