Agenda - 04-04-2017 - 6-a - Support for Local Immigrant and Refugee Population

Browse Search

8 Refugee Community Partnership: Orange County Funding Request March 21, 2017 About the Organization The Refugee Community Partnership (RCP) is a community-driven organization that addresses the social, economic, and psychological conditions that otherwise keep forcibly displaced people living on the margins. Through relationship-based support, opportunity development, and community bridging, RCP works to sustain the long and complex process of rebuilding home. Founded in 2011, RCP now involves the work and support of hundreds of refugee community leaders, neighborhood residents, students, business owners, teachers, and local stakeholders. RCP builds powerful networks of support to help families address immediate needs, and to establish and work toward long-term goals. Collaboration is key to our work, as we partner with dozens of local agencies and organizations to build a robust, cross-sector community support infrastructure. We use a relationship-based approach to address the social, economic, and physical factors that isolate forcibly displaced people, and build a vibrant social fabric that reconstitutes a sense of community and belonging. We believe those most affected by a problem are those closest to its solution, and we center our work around the priorities, leadership, and wisdom of refugee communities. Here, community innovation flourishes, with new initiatives and partnerships being born out of lived experiences. Because of this, RCP is able to strategically, dynamically, and adaptively fill gaps - gaps in access, opportunities, and support that all too often keep families in cycles of poverty. The Need Recent Executive Orders slashed funding to resettlement agencies, which are responsible for providing support to refugees for their initial 3 months. The agencies have already had to make staffing cuts, and may have to make more, which may reduce the support they are able to provide. Though the future is unclear, the federal government can no longer be relied upon to provide refugee resettlement support, making local, community efforts all the more vital. Without financial support from the federal government, and without support from the resettlement agencies, gaps between local refugees and opportunities may grow wider in the coming years. Because of the barriers to employment, and the rent hikes that GSC--owning company of the low-income apartment complexes in Carrboro-Chapel Hill--has been doing to effectively block and remove refugee and immigrant residents (which began soon after they rejected Section 8 housing 2 years ago), refugees may face increased economic hardship in the coming years. The majority of refugees are skilled workers, former tailors or electricians or teachers, and are eager to restart their vocation here. However, due to the language barrier and lacking documentation of past work or education experience, low-wage labor is the only work available to refugees upon resettlement--most commonly janitorial or food service work at the University. Because these positions do not pay enough to cover basic financial expenses for a family,