Empowering Refugee Women in Our Communities
by Donna Shirreffs with Kathie O’Callaghan
This is the third in a series of OpEds published by Hello Neighbor Network members. Donna Shirreffs, Board Member at Hearts & Homes for Refugees, and Kathie O’Callaghan, Founder, provided us with the following OpEd for International Women’s Day.
Donna Shirreffs is on the board of Hearts & Homes for Refugees, a grassroots nonprofit that builds supportive communities to resettle, assist and advocate for refugees so they can rebuild their lives with dignity and hope. Founder Kathie O’Callaghan will discuss the economic and social inclusion of refugee women through language classes on Wednesday, March 17 at 11am (New York) as part of an event hosted by the Journalist and Women’s Foundation as part of the 65th session of the Commission on the Status of Women (CSW65). Register at: http://bit.ly/CSW65Register
In observance of International Women’s Day, we are reflecting on all Hearts & Homes for Refugees does to empower women refugees. This year’s theme is Choose to Challenge to call out gender bias and inequality and help forge an inclusive world. We want this for our new neighbors, but the path to gender equality is full of obstacles. The women refugees we resettle first need the basics of shelter, food, safety/security, and then health care, education for children, English language skills, and employment for themselves and/or their spouses. From day one, Hearts & Homes for Refugees and its Community Sponsorship Model works to provide all this and more within the first three months of arrival to the U.S., creating safe and inclusive communities for those fleeing violence and persecution.
What is the Community Sponsorship Model?
The Community Sponsorship Model is a long-term solution to the gaps within our 40-year-old resettlement program. Under the existing U.S. Resettlement Program, refugees receive 90 days of government support which is managed through nine State-Department Resettlement Agencies. After the first three months, refugees are left with little support, and often limited opportunities for community integration.
When a volunteer group like Hearts and Homes for Refugees partners with a resettlement agency, we are known as Community Sponsors. This is a public/private partnership between faith and civic groups on a local level and U.S. Resettlement Agencies, that effectively extends support for refugees.
We provide additional time and resources to each family, from finding and setting up apartments and welcoming refugees at the airport, to helping families with school enrollment, healthcare, learning English, finding a job and connecting to the community. Volunteers are experts in the local community, which makes a meaningful difference and offers better chances for successful integration and independence for our new neighbors. This public-private partnership model is growing in popularity throughout the country and, if shared and adopted, will result in a paradigm shift in the way we welcome and support refugees.
Challenges and Successes in Our Refugee Resettlement Effort to Support Women
Hearts & Homes for Refugees strives to support women’s empowerment in many ways — here are a few examples.
Interpretation — We see many families where the husband has stronger English skills than the wife. In order to ensure women receive the full facts, and not their spouse’s view of benefits and rights that Hearts & Homes and the resettlement program offer, we provide interpretation for their meetings with us as well as access to interpreters when out in the community.
Medical Translation — We learned that doctors who accept Medicaid are required to provide medical translation for patients who need it. As a result, we advocated to ensure this was done. Recently, one of our new neighbors became pregnant, and we helped secure a pediatrician for the baby. To empower the mom to be able to take her newborn to the pediatrician, we searched to identify a good and known local doctor in walking distance to her apartment. When no medical translation was going to be provided, we found the required service information, shared it with the doctor’s office manager, and translation service was set up prior to the first newborn baby visit.
English Language — Proficiency is the key to success and independence in a U.S. community. Our Westchester Library System offers free ESOL classes, but does not allow children to join their mother, which for many women becomes a barrier to attendance. Hearts & Homes helped with both free childcare and alternative in-home tutoring. When the COVID-19 pandemic hit, we developed a virtual English Language program matching volunteer tutors to our new neighbors, at convenient times for the refugees — a program we will continue beyond the pandemic.
Mental Health — Loneliness and isolation is a problem for refugee women who arrive without social networks. The women are often home alone with children and have little chance to meet peers. As a result, a once-a-month Women’s Conversation Group was convened to break the isolation and build community. When the pandemic hit, this too continued virtually, and was ramped up to weekly meetings.
Transportation — Westchester County is a suburb, and though there are buses, public transportation has its limitations. We educate clients about the available public transportation, as well as set up volunteer drivers to help women (and men) go food shopping and travel to healthcare appointments for themselves and their children. Volunteers also help new neighbors study for and secure driving permits, learn to drive with U.S. rules, and take the driving test to get a New York State license.
Employment — Many of the refugee women are interested in starting home businesses that enable them to earn their own income at the same time they care for their children. Hearts & Homes for Refugees has helped promote the home businesses for two talented seamstresses and one woman who makes delicious Afghan food.
During COVID-19, Hearts & Homes for Refugees provided $1,700 to help pay refugee women sewists for two local mask making projects. We also procured sewing machines so that more women could learn how to make masks when they were not readily available during the early months of the pandemic.
Through all of these acts, we Choose to Challenge, creating spaces for women refugees and building more inclusive communities.
To learn more about Hearts & Homes for Refugees, visit their website at www.heartsandhomesforrefugees.org, or follow them on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter under @hhrefugees.
Hearts & Homes for Refugees is one of eight founding members of the Hello Neighbor Network representing nonprofit refugee- and immigrant-serving community organizations from across the U.S.
