East African Women's Center - Building community for Somali and other East African Women and their Families

From the day the East African Women’s Center opened its doors in 2005, our mission has been to support refugee women to successfully integrate into American life at the same time as they preserve their cultural traditions and values. We believed then—and it has definitely proven true—that when refugee women have the opportunity to actively and authentically participate in defining the challenges they face, they are empowered to seek solutions that both bridge cultures and meet their cultural needs.

Since 2005, we have stayed aligned with and committed to our original vision. However, HOW we have implemented the vision has changed as the needs of the refugee women we serve have changed.

If refugee women aren’t given the opportunity to learn English, how can they be expected to integrate into life in America? Says one new arrival who is the mother \ of five, “Before I came to this Center, I did not know any English but now I am able to recognize some English words.”

A little history. In September 2006, the Women’s Center opened our childcare room so refugee women with small children could attend ESL classes conducted by the Cedar Riverside Adult Education Collaborative (CRAEC) in the Cedar Riverside neighborhood of south Minneapolis.

In January 2007, the Women’s Center added “5th Day”/ Living in America sessions as part of the women’s ESL curriculum. Students would attend regular ESL classes 4 days each week; then on Fridays—the 5th day—they and their children would learn together at the Women’s Center.

By summer of 2008, a number of the women had maxed out the CRAEC ESL classes. Because they saw how much their children were learning and how they themselves were benefiting from the Center’s support and their relationships with each other, they requested that “transition classes” become a part of CRAEC’s class offerings. CRAEC and the Women’s Center hired Angie Huff-Hanson in November 2009 for the first “women’s only” ESL class in the neighborhood.

Many of the women were interested in the Child Development Associate certification as preparation for living wage employment, and Angie started teaching the CDA curriculum to one of the two transition classes in 2009. The CDA students completed the classroom portion of the CDA requirements in June 2010, and most are continuing the 480 hours of field placement with mentoring from Angie.

Needs change again. In 2010, the Minnesota Council of Churches (MCC), a VOLAG or resettlement agency, approached us. Minnesota was now accepting “free cases,” families who have no sponsors in Minnesota. MCC saw that families were “falling through the cracks;” at the same time, they were hearing exceptional reports of our work around helping mothers adapt to life in America. See "Serving New Arrivals"

Our work with new arrivals began in January 2011. The class is multi-level; some women have never been inside a “school” before and are learning what letters are. Others have more English but need living skills—as well as community and confidence. Generally, we are providing a “one stop shop” to make securing help easier and more family friendly.

Because these women do not read English, they need a lot of help with paperwork after the 90 days of support from their resettlement agency ends. In addition to MCC, 4 other VOLAGs and the Hennepin County Public Health Clinic have referred women to our program. They say that no one else in the larger community is offering new arrivals the services that the Women’s Center offers these women.

Starting with children as young as 8 weeks,

mothers and children participate in early childhood development activities together at the East African Women’s Center. The mother of a 4-year-old says, “My child now loves to hear books. He has become interested in learning and coloring.”