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Finding New Homes for People in Danger
Imagine living in a country with no rights, no work, and no chance for education, where soldiers steal your food and demand slave labor from you and your neighbors. Imagine fleeing your homeland out of fear—with little more than the clothes on your back—knowing that returning would result in death. Imagine living in an overcrowded camp with inadequate food and water, poor sanitation, and rampant disease. The United Nations Refugee Agency reports that the number of people forcibly uprooted by conflict and persecution worldwide was 42 million at the end of 2008, including 16 million refugees and asylum seekers and 26 million people uprooted within their own countries.
Every year, the United States invites some of these displaced people in to find shelter. In Virginia, Kathy Cooper oversees the efforts to resettle refugees into homes where they can live, work, laugh, and love in safety. As Director of the Virginia Office of Newcomer Services within the Department of Social Services, Kathy and her office helped resettle 2,400 refugees last year: people whose homelands are racked by violence, war, and persecution; Afghanis and Iraqis who assisted U.S. troops and now must come to America for safety; unaccompanied refugee children; and victims of human trafficking. The goal is to integrate these newcomers into communities throughout Virginia, to help them become economically self-sufficient as quickly as possible, through support services such as day care, translation, health screening, housing, and English lessons.
Kathy doesn’t work directly with the refugees, but she and her office are responsible for the overall administration of the program, from reception to assimilation—the puppeteers behind the screen, unseen but essential. They contract out much of the work and oversee other organizations that work with refugees—most notably the Catholic Diocese of Richmond and the Virginia Council of Churches.
“I may not be putting food on the table for a refugee family,” she says, “I may not be escorting them to the clinic for the inoculations, but I really take seriously and I do believe that the funding decisions that I make, the policy decisions that I make—they’re going to impact lives. And you know, it doesn’t get any better than that, to know that you can make a difference.”
As a seasoned coordinator—since 1991—Kathy is proud of what she and her office have accomplished. “Virginia has a very, very good program. We are held in high esteem, I think because we do have veteran programs that work very well, that really are in a groove about what works and what doesn’t.”
This fiscal year, however, has been especially difficult. “Funding at the federal level has been insufficient—that’s number one—insufficient to really get a family in an apartment, get them stable, and then begin the work of finding work.” Because of the high U.S. unemployment rate, refugees are having a tougher time finding jobs. Unskilled, service sector jobs are evaporating, with greater competition for jobs from displaced American workers. The economy has also hurt partner organizations, which have suffered staff reductions or even gone under.
Problems outside the U.S. contribute, too. “Refugees are coming in sicker and less work ready,” Kathy explains, because of the poor conditions they left.
“We are seeing light at the end of the tunnel, but it’s been difficult.”
The changing faces of the refugees make the work more complex. Two decades ago, refugees were more homogenous—for example, large groups of work-ready Vietnamese or Cambodians. Today’s refugees are more diverse, smaller groups from all over the globe.
As a committed veteran for the cause, Kathy is working with her staff to tackle the challenges effectively. One way they are addressing this is by beginning a refugee resettlement dialogue in Richmond, bringing together the various stakeholders to examine the best use of resources, coordinating and sharing resources, improved communications between groups.
Although she would not have envisioned herself in this job when she first graduated from college, Kathy says, “I love it…. I have never ever grown tired of it.” She appreciates that the program is “interesting” and “eclectic.” “It reminds me every day of how lucky I am to be here. And to have what I have, and have what we have. When basic freedom is taken away from you—”
Kathy pauses, and adds, “This program in some measure is a study in contrasts—you are faced every day with the reality of how awful some places on this planet are, how terrible, and the condition that some people live in—the atrocity and ugliness. Just when I’m getting ready to slip into despair, [I’m reminded that] it also has the alternative acts of kindness and goodness, and I am constantly made aware of the volunteer spirit. The hearts of the American people are big.
“Even with the challenges of this year,” Kathy finishes, “I tried really hard to stay focused on the light at the end of the tunnel. ‘The truth always prevails.’”
To learn how you can help, contact
Virginia Office of Newcomer Services: 804-726-7000
Virginia Council of Churches: www.vacouncilofchurches.org or 804-321-3300
Catholic Diocese of Richmond: www.risva.org or 804-355-4559
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