 |
 |
||||||||
| |
|
||||||||
| |
 |
|
The East African Women’s Center, a program of the Confederation of Somali Community of Minnesota, offers refugee women from the Twin Cities with opportunities to build bridges between “back home” and the new lives they are creating in a new land. Here’s an update on what’s been happening at the Center.
|
|
when you can’t even read the street signs to know where you are going—during your first Minnesota winter? It isn’t going to happen!” Thanks to two generous donors, public transportation was one hurdle mothers didn’t have to confront. The Center is now the proud owner of a 15-passager van that picks up women and their children for class and then takes them home afterwards. Read more about contributors and program volunteers. | |
|||
| Women's–Only ESL | |
||||||||
 |
|
||||||||
| Helping Hands. With Minnesota now accepting “free cases,” mothers—who are often single mothers—are coming to our state without any families here to support them. After three short months, they find themselves isolated and overwhelmed. Says one young mother, “I am a single mother who had a lot of challenges coming to America and not knowing anybody to help me or to support me. When I was brought to the Center, everybody helped me with all my paperwork.” Always without enough resources and with more and more to do, the Women’s Center depends on and values all our program volunteers and contributors.Read more about contributors and program volunteers. | |
||||||||
| An
Innovative Adaptation to the Women’s Center’s Programming.
In January 2011 the Women’s Center’s staff members and volunteers
took on a new challenge. With 2 initial partners, the Minnesota Council
of Churches (MCC) and the Cedar Riverside Adult Education Collaborative
(CRAEC), the Center began providing services to women who had come to this
country as “free cases.” With their infants, toddlers, and pre-
schoolers, women who had been in the United States 6 months or less began
coming to the Center 5 days each week to learn English and life skills while
their children receive quality cross-cultural childcare and preparation
to enter kindergarten. Read about New Arrivals Pgm. Read more about our ESL/ Language Learning Program |
|
||||||||
| Programming for New Arrivals | |
||||||||
 |
|
||||||||
| Helping hands | |
||||||||
 |
|
||||||||
| Partnership with the U of M’s School of Nursing. Through the University of Minnesota 2011 Community Collaborative Pilot Grants Program, the East African Women’s Center and the School of Nursing will partner to develop a culturally appropriate pre- and postnatal education program for East African women and then prepare community women to become co-educators. The idea originated when women shared questions with Women’s Center staff and we realized most mothers in our community had never participated in pre-natal classes— most did not know what they were. Since the program just started in September, look for an update in a few months. |
|
||||||||
| Helping hands | |
||||||||
 |
|
||||||||
| The Need for Transportation. One of the biggest fears new refugees have is of getting on a bus. One mother, who was a refugee herself 10 years ago, said, “Can you imagine getting on a bus with your two, three, even four young children | |
||||||||
| Questions
and Answers about Refugees |
|
||||||||
| |
|
||||||||
Visit
us on Facebook |
|
|
|||||||
| |
Questions and Answers. Many of the people who are interested in what the Women’s Center’s does, ask us questions about refugees and immigrants. Staff members decided that we would provide answers to some of the questions we most regularly receive. See Questions and Answers |
|
|||||||
DONATE
NOW 
|
|
||||||||
| |
|
||||||||
| |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
