{"id":4630,"date":"2016-05-02T14:14:56","date_gmt":"2016-05-02T21:14:56","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/pacificainstitute.org\/bay-area\/?p=4630"},"modified":"2016-09-12T20:20:26","modified_gmt":"2016-09-13T03:20:26","slug":"refugee-and-immigrant-forum-in-santa-clara-county","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/pacificainstitute.org\/bay-area\/2016\/05\/02\/refugee-and-immigrant-forum-in-santa-clara-county\/","title":{"rendered":"Refugee and Immigrant Forum in Santa Clara County"},"content":{"rendered":"<p class=\"p1\"><span class=\"s1\">On April 20th, at\u00a0its Silicon Valley Branch, Pacifica Institute hosted Refugee and Immigrant Forum of Santa Clara County with 17 guest organizations attending which were (in alphabetical order):<\/span><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li class=\"p1\"><span class=\"s1\">AACI\/CST<\/span><\/li>\n<li class=\"p1\"><span class=\"s1\">Catholic Charities<\/span><\/li>\n<li class=\"p1\"><span class=\"s1\">Eritrean Community Center<\/span><\/li>\n<li class=\"p1\"><span class=\"s1\">IRC<\/span><\/li>\n<li class=\"p1\"><span class=\"s1\">Immanuel House<\/span><\/li>\n<li class=\"p1\"><span class=\"s1\">Jamina Ghanm<\/span><\/li>\n<li class=\"p1\"><span class=\"s1\">Jewish Family Services<\/span><\/li>\n<li class=\"p1\"><span class=\"s1\">Pacifica Institute<\/span><\/li>\n<li class=\"p1\"><span class=\"s1\">Pars Equality Center<\/span><\/li>\n<li class=\"p1\"><span class=\"s1\">Red Cross<\/span><\/li>\n<li class=\"p1\"><span class=\"s1\">Refugee Health Assessment\/TB<\/span><\/li>\n<li class=\"p1\"><span class=\"s1\">Refugee Transitions<\/span><\/li>\n<li class=\"p1\"><span class=\"s1\">SSA<\/span><\/li>\n<li class=\"p1\"><span class=\"s1\">Sabby Kaur<\/span><\/li>\n<li class=\"p1\"><span class=\"s1\">Santa Clara Law Group<\/span><\/li>\n<li class=\"p1\"><span class=\"s1\">Upwardly Global<\/span><\/li>\n<li class=\"p1\"><span class=\"s1\">VTA<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<h3>2. Announcements<\/h3>\n<p class=\"p1\"><span class=\"s1\"><strong>IRC:<\/strong> Reporting Refugee numbers, IRC is approved for 250 refugees next fiscal year. It is\u00a0<\/span><span class=\"s1\">still easier for single employable people than others.<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"p1\"><span class=\"s1\"><strong>JFS:<\/strong> Jewish Family Services has resettled 67 this year, and is approved for 165 next year.<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"p1\"><span class=\"s1\"><strong>Catholic Charities:<\/strong> Didn\u2019t come with the projected refugee number, they are approved<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"p1\"><span class=\"s1\">for 16 Unaccompanied Refugee Minors.<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"p1\"><span class=\"s1\"><strong>VTA:<\/strong> VTA has had an assessment done by a consultant for its NEXT Network project.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"p1\"><span class=\"s1\">Currently, service is prioritized 70% on ridership and 30% on coverage of Santa Clara\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"p1\"><span class=\"s1\">County. With the NEXT Network, this may change the prioritization to 90% ridership and\u00a0<\/span><span class=\"s1\">10% coverage. VTA may dedicate more service to densely populated areas, which would\u00a0<\/span><span class=\"s1\">mean losing service to some outlying areas. VTA requests time at the next meeting to\u00a0<\/span><span class=\"s1\">make a presentation to see how people feel about this potential change. Q: What is the\u00a0<\/span><span class=\"s1\">updated news on BART? BART through the Berryessa Station is scheduled for 2017. Q:\u00a0<\/span><span class=\"s1\">What about BART extensions to other areas of San Jose? Not until at least 2025.<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"p1\"><span class=\"s1\"><strong>American Red Cross:<\/strong> Informal fact gathering about volunteer opportunities in hospitals\u00a0<\/span><span class=\"s1\">and volunteer opportunities for refugee health care workers in the Red Cross and at the\u00a0<\/span><span class=\"s1\">Veterans Administration hospitals.\u00a0<\/span><span class=\"s1\">The American Red Cross has issued a bulletin for Restoring Family\u00a0<\/span><span class=\"s1\">Links for families separated by the earthquake in Ecuador. The announcement has been\u00a0<\/span><span class=\"s1\">sent out online.<\/span><\/p>\n<h3 class=\"p1\"><span class=\"s1\">3. Natalie Allen<\/span><\/h3>\n<p class=\"p1\"><span class=\"s1\">Synopsis on Employment and Elderly Services for Refugees. SSA held a\u00a0<\/span><span class=\"s1\">community meeting in late March, and discussed structure, performance standards,\u00a0<\/span><span class=\"s1\">numbers and profiles. The community group recommended that services should remain\u00a0<\/span><span class=\"s1\">the same as they are, employment services and ESL should remain the same. With\u00a0<\/span><span class=\"s1\">respect to services for seniors, the next year\u2019s allocation is so tiny, service providers will\u00a0<\/span><span class=\"s1\">need to tap current resources to provide services. Discussed suggestions included hosting\u00a0<\/span><span class=\"s1\">one or two events during the year, or using the money just to link seniors. The next step:\u00a0<\/span><span class=\"s1\">The RFP will be released on May 2nd, it will be posted on BidSync (please register on this\u00a0<\/span><span class=\"s1\">service). The searches on BidSync are by serial number.<\/span><\/p>\n<h3 class=\"p1\"><\/h3>\n<h3 class=\"p1\"><span class=\"s1\">4.\u00a0American Red Cross Presentation<\/span><\/h3>\n<p class=\"p1\"><span class=\"s1\">The American Red Cross has a variety of volunteer\u00a0<\/span><span class=\"s1\">opportunities. Some of them are traditional, some, like the Pillow Case Program are new and\u00a0<\/span><span class=\"s1\">taking off. These include volunteering for Disaster Cycle Services (deploying for disasters\u00a0<\/span><span class=\"s1\">nationwide or deploying locally to disasters like house fires) has volunteer opportunities, as do\u00a0<\/span><span class=\"s1\">Health and Safety Services, and Blood Services. There are internal opportunities, as well as FAST\u00a0<\/span><span class=\"s1\">(First Aid Services Team), Client Casework, SAF (Services to the Armed Forces), RFL (Restoring\u00a0<\/span><span class=\"s1\">Family Links), and IHL (International Humanitarian Law dissemination). There are also\u00a0<\/span><span class=\"s1\">opportunities to work in fundraising. Many of these volunteer services include some training in\u00a0<\/span><span class=\"s1\">valuable skills, or are good entries on a resume. There is also volunteering in Support Services,\u00a0<\/span><span class=\"s1\">which provides adult supervision for Youth Services volunteers. Naomi will send out a sheet\u00a0<\/span><span class=\"s1\">summarizing these opportunities.<\/span><\/p>\n<h3 class=\"p1\"><\/h3>\n<h3 class=\"p1\"><span class=\"s1\">5. White House task force Letter of Interest discussion<\/span><\/h3>\n<p class=\"p1\"><span class=\"s1\">Upwardly Global asked during the phone conference call with the Task Force about applying as <\/span><span class=\"s1\">an organization or applying from within groups in communities \u2013 they were told to\u00a0apply from\u00a0<\/span><span class=\"s1\">within communities, so RIF has asked about collaborating. At the follow-up RIF meeting on <\/span><span class=\"s1\">refugee professionals with California RPB and ORR Division 9, there were a lot of good\u00a0r<\/span><span class=\"s1\">ecommendations. Do we approach Upwardly Global and collaborate? What gaps do we have <\/span><span class=\"s1\">with respect to a Letter of Interest? Is it financially feasible? How do we make it so we can bring <\/span><span class=\"s1\">the items decided at that meeting to clients?<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"p1\"><span class=\"s1\">If we are doing a Letter of Interest, then we need to meet with Upwardly Global this week. Shall <\/span><span class=\"s1\">we incorporate them in a plan with us?<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"p1\"><span class=\"s1\"><strong>Haitixhe<\/strong> \u2013 We would be better positioned if we worked with Upwardly Global. Are we legally <\/span><span class=\"s1\">allowed to collaborate as Refugee and Immigrant Forum? We have met and pursued other <\/span><span class=\"s1\">initiatives as RIF before, we can do this as well.<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"p1\"><span class=\"s1\"><strong>Hawley<\/strong> \u2013 We need funding \u2013 on the phone call the task force said there would be no funding for\u00a0<\/span><span class=\"s1\">travel.<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"p1\"><span class=\"s1\"><strong>Haitixhe<\/strong> \u2013 We should ask for funding anyway. Someone from our group should be there. We n<\/span><span class=\"s1\">eed to figure out who will be on the committee and how to fund them.<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"p1\"><span class=\"s1\"><strong>Mylene<\/strong> \u2013 The task force probably needs a bigger entity than just a county, there are 15 c<\/span><span class=\"s1\">ommunities nationwide for the Institute, that indicates bigger geographical areas. <\/span><span class=\"s1\">Shall we form a subcommittee? Subcommittee will meet after the Forum meeting.<\/span><\/p>\n<h3 class=\"p1\"><span class=\"s1\">6. Pacifica Institute, Mahmut Altun<\/span><\/h3>\n<p class=\"p1\"><span class=\"s1\">Pacifica Institute wants to hold an Iftar dinner for refugee\u00a0<\/span><span class=\"s1\">clients. A proposed date is Monday, June 20. Members voiced that a weekend would be better,\u00a0<\/span><span class=\"s1\">there are no available slots for weekends. June 20th is decided. Mahmut will send an invitation\u00a0<\/span><span class=\"s1\">to clients. Pacifica Institute needs to know a rough estimate for how many will attend, and needs\u00a0<\/span><span class=\"s1\">to know if there will be children. This information is needed before 15 days before the dinner.<\/span><\/p>\n<h3 class=\"p1\"><span class=\"s1\">7. Next Meeting<\/span><\/h3>\n<p class=\"p1\"><span class=\"s1\"> SSA will do a presentation on children qualifying for Medi-Cal. Undocumented\u00a0<\/span><span class=\"s1\">children are now qualified. VTA will do a presentation on their Next Network project.<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"p1\"><a href=\"http:\/\/pacificainstitute.org\/bay-area\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/8\/2016\/05\/DSC02452.jpg\"><img fetchpriority=\"high\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignleft size-medium wp-image-4631\" src=\"http:\/\/pacificainstitute.org\/bay-area\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/8\/2016\/05\/DSC02452-300x225.jpg\" alt=\"DSC02452\" width=\"300\" height=\"225\" srcset=\"https:\/\/pacificainstitute.org\/bay-area\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/8\/2016\/05\/DSC02452-300x225.jpg 300w, https:\/\/pacificainstitute.org\/bay-area\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/8\/2016\/05\/DSC02452-1024x768.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/pacificainstitute.org\/bay-area\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/8\/2016\/05\/DSC02452.jpg 2000w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px\" \/><\/a> <a href=\"http:\/\/pacificainstitute.org\/bay-area\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/8\/2016\/05\/DSC02453.jpg\"><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter size-medium wp-image-4632\" src=\"http:\/\/pacificainstitute.org\/bay-area\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/8\/2016\/05\/DSC02453-300x225.jpg\" alt=\"DSC02453\" width=\"300\" height=\"225\" srcset=\"https:\/\/pacificainstitute.org\/bay-area\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/8\/2016\/05\/DSC02453-300x225.jpg 300w, https:\/\/pacificainstitute.org\/bay-area\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/8\/2016\/05\/DSC02453-1024x768.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/pacificainstitute.org\/bay-area\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/8\/2016\/05\/DSC02453.jpg 2000w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>On April 20th, at\u00a0its Silicon Valley Branch, Pacifica Institute hosted Refugee and Immigrant Forum of Santa Clara County with 17 guest organizations attending which were (in alphabetical order): AACI\/CST Catholic Charities Eritrean Community Center IRC Immanuel House Jamina Ghanm Jewish Family Services Pacifica Institute Pars Equality Center Red Cross Refugee Health Assessment\/TB Refugee Transitions SSA [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":16,"featured_media":4634,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[277,278],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-4630","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-recent-events","category-slideshow"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/pacificainstitute.org\/bay-area\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4630","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/pacificainstitute.org\/bay-area\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/pacificainstitute.org\/bay-area\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pacificainstitute.org\/bay-area\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/16"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pacificainstitute.org\/bay-area\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=4630"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/pacificainstitute.org\/bay-area\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4630\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pacificainstitute.org\/bay-area\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/4634"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/pacificainstitute.org\/bay-area\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=4630"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pacificainstitute.org\/bay-area\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=4630"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pacificainstitute.org\/bay-area\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=4630"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}