With more intensive orientation, CWS gives new refugee arrivals a stronger foundation


January 19, 2012

Exuberant graduates of the Cultural Orientation for Refugee Empowerment program. Photo: CWS

Exuberant graduates of the Cultural Orientation for Refugee Empowerment program. Photo: CWS

At the same time as it launched its Citizenship Education and Naturalization Services Program, the Church World Service office in Greensboro, N.C., also launched Cultural Orientation for Refugee Empowerment (CORE).

CWS-Greensboro recognized that new refugee arrivals were in need of a more comprehensive approach to community and cultural orientation. While case managers spent hours working one-on-one with families providing information and assisting with problem solving, much of the information was coming too quickly (in the first week in the U.S., before many were even able to begin processing it).  This resulted in an uneven distribution of information and much case management time helping remedy preventable issues and problems that newly arrived refugees face in their first months.

The Cultural Orientation for Refugee Empowerment (CORE) program was born out of a desire to give new arrivals a stronger foundation on which to start their new lives.  This fall, with the generous support of individual donors and three local community-based foundations, CWS developed and launched its first CORE class, taking new arrivals from Bhutan and Burma through a 15-unit (three-week) curriculum covering a variety of topics aimed at developing a base of knowledge and skills from which refugees can build successful beginnings.

A key component of the program engages community professionals in leading workshops, providing not only their expertise but also an opportunity for new arrivals to develop important connections and relationships within their new community. There are more than 15 current classroom partners including various departments of the City of Greensboro, local property managers, the school district, local medical professionals, banking representatives and many more.

Students report that in addition to learning “all the things we didn’t know we needed to know,” the class also helps them to make friends with other new arrivals and to get to know their way around their new community very quickly. The class is supported by the AmeriCorps ACCESS program, which provides interpreters and a full-time coordinator.

In early 2012, CWS will add to this with a Computer Learning Lab made possible through a generous gift and ongoing partnership with the Congregational United Church of Christ (Greensboro, N.C.), which committed to a gift of $10,000 and a year of volunteer partnership.  Not only are there more clients in the office, but more volunteers, teachers, and outside guests, which helps to increase new arrivals’ exposure to the community and raise awareness about refugees and immigrants.

The change that all these new programs brings to the CWS community can be found in the sense of accomplishment and confidence that is visible on the faces of the program’s participants. From small triumphs like learning to take the bus to large ones like becoming a U.S. citizen, these programs provide CWS clients with the opportunities and tools they need to realize successes for themselves. The significance of this sense of pride and growth in personal capacity cannot be overestimated.