USRCI Vermont April 2021 Newsletter

USCRI Vermont’s Kristen Rengo, Coordinator of Interpretation and Translation Services, was a featured panelist for “The Embedded Racism of Language Access Barriers” presented on March 25th as part of Vermont Law School’s “Embedded Racism in the Law” discussion series. Through this series, South Royalton Legal Clinic at Vermont Law School invites attendees to discuss solutions to addressing the obstacles people of color who have limited English proficiency face in accessing human and health services and the legal system. Without access to meaningful interpretation and translation, BIPOC, refugee families, and New American communities lose access to housing and shelter programs, benefits and healthcare, education system supports, emergency services, and opportunities to be heard—even though these communities are more likely to experience conditions that make and keep people poor and at the frontlines of climate change and environmental injustice. To view a recording of the panel discussion go to vermontlaw.edu/live.

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USCRI Vermont in the News

USCRI Vermont is encouraged by Vermont Governor Phil Scott’s efforts to increase the number of refugee arrivals in the state over the coming years. Governor Scott sent the U.S. State Department a letter on March 22nd asking for a three-fold increase in the number of refugees sent to Vermont next year. As highlighted in an AP News story, Amila Merdzanovic, Director of USCRI Vermont, expressed her full support of the Governor’s letter, stating refugees are “an integral part” of the state’s efforts to grow its economy and population. Merdzanovic called the governor’s letter “wonderful.” In 2016, “Vermont welcomed almost 400 refugees, the most ever”, said Merdzanovic. “In the last fiscal year, Vermont welcomed the lowest number ever, but the pandemic played a role, as well as Trump administration policies”, she said. “The Governor has been supportive from Day 1. The refugees who have arrived in Vermont over the past 40 years have helped diversify the Burlington area, where most of them have been resettled.”
“While USCRI Vermont shrank during the Trump years, it is ready to expand to meet the needs of incoming refugees”, she said. “We are flooded with calls from excited Vermonters. Vermonters are going to do what Vermonters do best, which is to welcome new arrivals.”

https://www.concordmonitor.com/Governor-asks-US-to-resettle-more-refugees-in-Vermont-39525542

Alumni Profile – Noor Bulle

Hello, my name is Noor Bulle. I arrived in Vermont with my three sisters and two brothers as refugees from Somalia in 2004 after living with my family for 12 years in a refugee camp in Kenya. When you live in a refugee camp, you cannot leave or you risk losing the chance to emigrate, and the conditions were challenging at best. I remember the day my family was chosen and called into the INS office. I was very young, and was selected by the officer from all my family members to answer a set of questions asked of refugees before they’re permitted entry. I was really nervous since there was no interpreter, and I didn’t want to give a wrong answer. The officer asked his question: “If you go to the US, what are you going to do?”

As I think of that moment, I reflect on how important education was to me, and how badly I wanted to attend school. And now as the Multilingual Liaison for the Burlington School District, I get to work with and help refugee and immigrant youth get access to resources they need to get the best education they can and prepare for college. After graduating from Burlington High School in 2008 and getting my degree at Northern Vermont University, I felt a calling to return to the school system to build cultural and linguistic bridges for refugee and immigrant youth struggling with the same things I struggled with – learning English, cultivating friendships, developing good study habits, involving my parents in my education, and finding my voice and being heard.

As a mentor and educator, I believe it’s critical to meet students where they are at, and providing that support as they transition to the next level is essential to college readiness. Seeing their progress is so fulfilling, and reminds me of overcoming my own challenges in school when I first arrived in Vermont. People who have been through it are in the best position to change it, and I’m thankful to have the chance to do a job I love and help youth answer their questions about the future they want for themselves.

USCRI Vermont in the Schools

On March 24th, Matt Thompson, USCRI Vermont’s Coordinator of Programs, was invited to give a virtual presentation to a 7th Grade Humanities class at Woodstock Middle School. The class had been studying the conflict and humanitarian crisis in Syria and they wanted a better understanding of how Syrian and other refugees are resettled to the U.S.

Matt gave an overview of the process of being resettled to Vermont, detailing: the extensive overseas security vetting and medical screening processes; pre-arrival preparations, such as apartment set-ups; enrollment in comprehensive services following arrival; and how USCRI Vermont supports newly arrived refugees in attaining economic self-sufficiency and community integration. The class had lots of great questions about the security vetting process, recent resettlement trends, the benefits (e.g. federal money being spent in the local economy, augmenting the workforce and taxpayer base) and challenges of refugee resettlement in an aging and relatively rural state like Vermont, and how volunteers can help support resettled refugees as they start new lives in Vermont.

Have a Heart Benefit by August First Bakery

A huge THANK YOU to our friends at the August First Bakery in Burlington for their ongoing support over the years and for the Have a Heart fundraiser they host annually. Stop in to the cafe at 149 S. Champlain St. and take a heart from the wish list and bring it to the register for purchase. These donated items are then given to refugee families – From kitchenware to language translation books, the Wishlist has it all to help families settling into their new life in our communities. 

Thank You Yoga Subedi

USCRI Vermont would like to acknowledge the contributions of one of the best, Yoga Subedi, who will be leaving us as a fulltime employee after 11 years of dedicated service as USCRI Vermont’s Staff Interpreter. But we are happy that he will be available as on-call staff. Yoga was resettled by USCRI in 2009, and quickly began helping Bhutanese refugees as an interpreter after being hired. In his 11 years of service at USCRI, Yoga has worked as an interpreter for the courts, hospital, social service agencies, schools, law firms, and employers. In addition to interpreting, Yoga trained novice interpreters and service providers on best practices for working with interpreters and was recently nominated for the Crystal Family New Hope Award for his ongoing work with UVM Health Network Home Health and Hospice. Thank you so much for all your years of compassionate service, professionalism, and accomplishments over the last 11 years here at USCRI Vermont, Yoga.

Mosaic of Flavor Cooking Series 

The Mosaic of Flavor Cooking Series is a culinary collaboration between City Market Co-op and USCRI Vermont. Held monthly, each virtual class is held on the Microsoft Teams platform. The April class will feature Suku Gurung, who will be preparing Bhutanese Ema Datshi (Chili and Cheese Stew). Suku will teach us to make Ema Datshi, often considered the national dish of Bhutan and also very popular in Nepal.

Ema Datshi is a thick chili made from a variety of green and red chili peppers and homemade cheese, traditionally made in small batches from cow or yak’s milk. To accompany the Ema Datshi, we will also prepare basmati rice. Suku was born in Bhutan, but moved to Nepal when she was a child. She learned to cook from her mother and father in Nepal, where their home cooking was a memorable part of her childhood. Suku moved to Vermont with her husband and two children in 2012. Suku has worked at a number of Nepali restaurants in Burlington and is excited to share her love of cooking with us!

The class is free, but a $10 donation is requested. To register, click on the Mosaic of Flavor class information link: 

https://www.citymarket.coop/category/event-categories/mosaic-flavor

USCRI Vermont Educational Tutor Profile – David Selby

My name is David Selby. I’m a Tutor at USCRI Vermont. I lived in Africa for almost 30 years, working with people displaced by war. I began tutoring English upon returning to my native Vermont as a way to maintain a connection to Africa and help people who are creating a new life in America. In 2019 I met Simon and Helene when they spoke only their native language, Kiswahili, and very little English. Our weekly meetings increased to twice a week at their request, with one meeting at their home and one meeting via WhatsApp. This made the transition to Zoom tutoring sessions easy with the onset of COVID. I think my knowledge of Kiswahili has facilitated our English lessons and my understanding of African life has facilitated our cross-cultural communication of ideas. Simon and Helene are progressing in English and in their assimilation to life in America. Pole pole ndiyo mwendo: slowly, slowly is indeed the way.

USCRI Vermont & Vermont’s COVID Vaccine Efforts

USCRI Vermont is honored to be one of the community organizations working with the Vermont Department of Health over the last three months coordinating the COVID-19 vaccine clinics in the state. As a part of National Public Health Week, the department’s Director Dr. Mark Levine issued an acknowledgement recognizing the incredibly hard work of public health staff and the coalition of organizations that have contributed to the program’s success. These include:

• the Association of Africans Living in Vermont
• U.S. Committee for Refugees and Immigrants Vermont 
• UVM LEND Program
• NAACP Windham County and Rutland area chapters 
• the Racial Justice Alliance
• the Vermont Professionals of Color Network
• the Black Perspective
• the cities of Burlington and Winooski

“These clinics for immigrant and refugee communities were so successful, they have become a model to inform other equity focused clinics across the state. The effectiveness of being able to access interpretation and translation services as a household, the warmth and welcoming of known community partners, and the celebration of knowing that we are all that much closer to being able to be together again and stay well is a true triumph of our partners. We are deeply grateful for your leadership, dedication to rebuilding systems, and collaboration. So to all of the volunteers, interpreters, cultural brokers, and community members who have poured their hearts into this work, we extend our utmost gratitude for all you have done and continue to do to support Vermont communities. Thank you for your collaboration, grace, and for your immense support in our collective public health efforts.”

USCRI Vermont would like to acknowledge the contributions of our interpreters, teachers, tutors, family friends, and volunteers for their hard work making these clinics so successful and on their immense efforts over the past year – Thank you!

Thank You to All Our Donors & Supporters

A big Thank You to all of our donors, partners, and ongoing supporters who make the services and programs we offer possible, including Fidelity Charitable/Hadley & Dick Ferguson, Vermont State Employees Credit Union (VSECU), James Palmer, Maura Cullen, United Way of Northwest Vermont, Annie Hoffkling, Vermont Community Foundation, and Nathan Awrich.

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USCRI Vermont is deeply grateful for the generous donations we’ve received this week as federal stimulus checks begin arriving. If you have a little extra left over from your stimulus, USCRI Vermont will use your contribution to help refugee and immigrant families with critical needs like providing emergency rental assistance, buying groceries, and paying past due utility bills, as well as helping families with emergency childcare and transportation costs for work and medical appointments. Your donations make a difference, and your support matters so much to the refugee and  immigrant families we serve.

Also follow us on Facebook at www.facebook.com/USCRIVT.

To help us reach our goal, click on the Donate Now button below or click on the link to donate on our new webpage. 
https://refugees.org/donate-uscri-vermont/

Thank You!

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