Mary's Outreach Center: Agency Analysis

Though they begin as scared kids and wish to be invisible, the characters in “Refugee” must become more mature to protect their families by Stepping up when times are hard and difficult to accomplish what they needed to accomplish

Our Engaged Learning Community group was given the opportunity to participate with The Catholic Charity of Chicago, a group committed to help the less fortunate and the people with need of income. In accordance to Loyola’s mission, Catholic Charities helps the community regardless the background people seeking for assistance may come from. They are willing to provide assistance through funds, referrals, case managements, emergency shelter, clothing, food pantry, information on government benefit screening, basic needs, and social services.

Commentary 1: Refugees areal deadly facing an awful life and a tough screening process, but even after it is all over their lives will still be far worse than ours. They will be disrespected and have trouble socially fitting into this new

Clarkston, Atlanta has gone through major change in the past decade. They have had a massive influx of refugees from all around the world. With this change comes the question of will Clarkston be able to adapt and survive this change? Some people of the town adapt better than others. Luma Mufleh helps some of these people get used to their town that is not the same. Some people in Clarkston can not accept that their town is made up of refugees and will refuse to communicate and cooperate. The refugees on Luma’s team and some from around her have taken it upon themselves to “be the bigger man” and try to get along with the people of Clarkston. Clarkston is still trying to make it.

Refugees and immigrants have a specific set of needs that differ from other families. Oftentimes they suffer from a lack of resources and do not fully understand the culture that they live in. I would like to work with this population because I have experience in helping refugee/immigrant families succeed in the United States, while helping them to retain their own culture and identity. Though I have some experience working with this population, I would like to learn more about the depth of their needs and the ways that social work as a profession is seeking to fulfill that need.

In the battle of refugee resettlement, America is its own worst enemy. By abandoning and victimizing harmless refugees, America robs them of their chance at the American Dream. After spending two years interviewing refugees, Anna Husarska was able to support her argument that America is outrageously unfair to foreign refugees (90). In Husarska’s journal, “Exile Off Main Street: Refugees and America’s Ingratitude,” Husarska emphasizes how widespread and commonplace America’s refugee abandonment is, as well as how seldom America attempts to reconcile for it, and how poor it is at doing so.

It cannot be denied that food is a source of comfort for most people. When an employee of Mehlinger’s failing grocery store noticed that there were no local stores to cater to the significant refugee population, she suggested a change in products could bring about a revival to the business (174). Within months, Mehlinger was seeing a return on his investments into the exotic foods. His nearly immediate financial gain allowed him to view the refugee community in a different light, his familiarity with the different cultures around Clarkston soon replaced any fear that he may have had and further allowed his business to excel. In fact, he soon made the decision to hire numerous refugees of different backgrounds to aid in the food selection process (175). By providing employment opportunities to the refugees, he further aided the community and himself. His contribution to the refugee community may be considered miniscule to many, but his willingness to explore a new business opportunity and provide a locale for new Clarkston residents to buy their comforts of home, speaks volumes about the kind of man he is. When Mehlinger said, “’If you don’t change, you’re gone ‘” he was referring to more than his mere business

Have you ever meet a refuge or know someone who escaped their country because of war? When refugees flee their home they need to stay in refugee camps where they get food and shelter but they can't stay there for ever. Refugees go thru many things when they come to America, one thing is they don't know english and they struggle to communicate. Another thing is that the kids might get bullied because they come from another place or of there religion. Ha life is similar to the universal:Refugees life because she was a refugee and she got bullied in school because where she came from. Ha’s life and the universal:Refugees life have been affected wich that make there life inside out.

Our goal is to help out in the freedom school in Mount Zion Methodist Church in Longdale. With a lot of courage and inspiration, I couldn’t wait. However, when I reached the church, I entered a comprehensive state of shock; I couldn’t believe my eyes. The freedom school was burned down. As a devoted Christian, I couldn’t believe that someone would burn down a church, the place of God! I stood there

Bill Mehlinger shares how he learned to accept the refugees. His grocery store business was doing poorly. With help from one of his employees, Hong Diep Vo, Mehlinger got the idea of making his grocery store fit the needs of the refugees. He got all kinds of ethnic food and started selling them in his store. It was convenient for the refugees because they do not need to go very far to get their food. Then his business was doing better than before. This shows how something new can change your life forever. It proves how diversity serves the goals and interests of everyone. ‘ “If it wasn’t for the refugees knowing us and knowing we go out of our way for them, we’d be gone,’ Mehlinger said” ‘ (175). Furthermore, the old Clarkston Baptist church undergoed the same experience. ‘ “ We realized that what the Lord had in store for that old Clarkston Baptist Church was to transition into a truly international church and to help minister to all these ethnic groups moving into the country,’ he said” ‘(176). As the cliche, “what comes around goes around” greatly applies to this experience. The church was on the verge to becoming broke and there was less people going to church. Then the noticed that they needed to cater to all the refugees in Clarkston. And in turn, the church was filled with people. They believed that the church was a place for everybody and they embraced the new

The building is made of light orange colored bricks and huge green glass windows. The premise is exceptionally clean and the hanging greenery adds an elegance to it. The cosmetic beauty that this non-profit organization exhibits on the outside doesn 't compare to the benevolence that can be found inside. During my service learning project, I discovered the church continues to play a large role in providing charity. Unlike centuries ago, identifying who are the worthy and unworthy needy, is irrelevant at this center. Upon entering the facility, the indigent of Houston and Harris County are greeted by volunteers and the intake service administrator, Ann. They are immediately asked for the last four of their social security numbers or their date of birth. Once their personal information is retrieved, they are asked to state what services they are in need of. I first volunteered as an intake coordinator and I was trained personally by Ann. On occasions, I had difficulty registering certain individuals. At that point, I had to refer them to her and she made the decision of either letting them stay or not. As it turns out, if the participant had never visited the establishment or had not returned for services for more than year, they were asked to register or re-register. She asked them a series of questions that ranged from, how long they have been homeless

The dilemma regarding the American refugee policy and America’s stance on refugees at this point in time is a challenging topic for many to discuss. Not only is this controversy affecting Americans, it is also hurting refugees in desperate need of our help. America needs to start handling the emerging refugee crisis by first working to remove the stereotype associated with refugees, then the U.S. needs to assess which refugee countries should (if any) actually be banned, and after accomplishing those-- America needs to work to help the countries in need by letting refugees in, and working to help the refugees live happily in their country of origin.

In a multicultural society, Pittsburgh Mercy Health System’s policies and regulations are intentionally structured to tackle oppression and the exclusion of any individuals. However, the actions of a few employees have recently left me to ponder on the extent of which these policies are enforced. More specifically, I shadowed a service coordination for a week and observed her interactions with an immigrated family. I was highly disappointed for several reasons.

The reason I decided to tackle this issue is to challenge my own racism. When I first moved to the Twin Cities, I lived in an area that was heavily populated with Samoli families. I was very judgmental of their clothing, foreign food smells, loud and inconsiderate children, slow drivers and overall behavior. I also am very nervous when having to talk to people of such a different background because I do not want to seem ignorant or be offensive. I thought it was important for me for personal and future social worker growth. I was unaware of the extreme conditions that face Somalians, not only as new refugees but also as a community. I feel more informed and less anxious now that I understand just the small part I learned by researching and meeting this organization.

I chose to volunteer at a Christnet Rotating Shelter Program that was at the time located at a local church. This program does not have a permanent location, rather, various accommodating churches host the program. Additionally, this program offers not only daytime programs, but also nightly shelter. However, for this assignment, I opted for an observation of the program’s participants at nighttime. Moving on, I showed up more than an hour early before the sign-in sheets would be distributed to individuals seeking shelter for the night so that I could assist the other volunteers with adjusting the layout of the room and assembling the tables and beds in order to accommodate the needs of the guests. Afterwards, people began to line up outside the church’s door about 6:15 p.m. even though