Cultural Connections Committee

Gate City Immigrant Initiative Meeting Minutes March 25, 2015 9:00AM – 10:30AM Catholic Charities New Hampshire Present: Jenn Hosking, Amadou Hamady, Chelsea Steensen, Donna Marceau, Sharon Dalton, Brandon Anderson, Simon Gahungu, Sylvia Gale, Shayana Owen, Kimberly George, Beth Todgham, Marcos Diaz, Karina Pintado, Barbara Seebart, Janet Orozco, Karen Emis-Williams Meeting opened at 9:10AM with introductions. Toolkit Workgroup Update –  Janeth - there was a workgroup meeting this month at the Adult Learning Center. Those in attendance were young, established (living a few years in this community), immigrants. The key areas the guide should focus on are: housing, employment, medical care/mental health, financial resources, general community resources and crisis services. The United Way has offered to provide the images. Still need to establish how updates will be managed. Also the idea of using a toolkit and Facebook application in order to access the information quicker. Beth - the cultural navigator could use an online resource guide as it may be more up to date and it could be linked to the City of Nashua webpage. Karen - there should be another focus group with newly arrived refugees as this will get their feedback as to whether this toolkit would be helpful. Also 211 is viable information resource that is underutilized. Barbara – the toolkit should be low literacy and simplified. Amadou – the resettlement agencies do the core services for all newly arrivals i.e. finding housing, a medical home, applying for state benefits, etc. Karen – it could be helpful to have both resettlement agencies do a presentation for providers on the process of resettlement. Resettlement Update:  International Institute, Amadou Hamady – Since 2013 until now 67 have been resettled in Nashua. Yet only 47 have remained which is composed of 14 Somali (family of 3), 18 Congolese (family of 3), 9 Burmese (family of 3), 1 Iraqi (family of 5), 1 Sudanese (1 person). In Nashua 50 were projected for FY Oct’14 and have already placed 43. Next week 2 Burmese will be arriving and they have family ties. It’s unclear if they’ll resettle more than the projected numbers. Housing in Nashua is an issue due to the cost. All the refugees that are able to work are working. IINH is trying to secure an office in Nashua.  Outmigration – Refugees have left to Texas, Nebraska, Colorado, Massachusetts, Missouri, and Manchester due to family ties and job prospects. OMHRA, Barbara –Secondary Migration since 2005 – 2013 over 600 have out-migrated and 55 in-migrated. The primary factor is family ties. Community Announcements:  Nashua Community College, Donna – their Work Ready workshop is starting on April 8th and it is free to the community. Immigrants and refugees have been through the workshop. Transportation is an issue due to the limited bus schedule hours.  Community Member, Sylvia – In April there will be a community conversation with Nashua Police Dept. on Race and Justice (date TBA). PAL will be hosting and it will be held at St Patrick’s. The new NPD police chief has been very involved in the community. On April 1st the House will be voting on the budget that the Governor has proposed. The changes that the House wants to make will have a negative impact on mental health, education, compensation of state employees, etc.  Catholic Charities, Kim – There will be an Immigrant Integration Symposium on April 10 at SNHU. Among presenters and panelists will be Eskinder Ngash, former head of ORR as opening keynote and Nashua School’s Superintendent Mark Conrad on Education Panel; Symposium is free and include lunch at no cost. To register: http://cwbanh.com/events  MIRA Coalition, Janeth - Announced the opportunity to have citizenship clinics locally. On April 11, at St Louis de Gonzague will be collecting a list of potential participants who might need assistance with citizenship process.