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Crafting A New Life in the Treasury Valley March 20 - May 2, 2010 Idaho State Historical Museum |
How do refugees find their way to Idaho?
Boise is considered a “preferred community” by the U.S. Department of State and the Office of Refugee
Resettlement. The city’s range of services, high quality of life, and welcoming spirit make it a promising
place for incoming refugees to start anew.
It is a complex process and large network of organizations that bring refugees to Boise. The United Nations
first establishes a person’s refugee status and then the U.S. Department of Homeland Security determines
his or her eligibility for resettlement in this country. International NGOs (non-governmental organizations)
interview people living in refugee camps. The Department of State contracts with ten national resettlement
agencies that have local affiliates. The destination for incoming refugees is decided at a national level.
Unless they have family living in a particular place, refugees have no say over where they will land in the
U.S. Technology helps refugees keep in touch with other community members scattered across the country.
Sometimes people relocate from their original resettlement sites for employment or to live near family or
friends, a process known as “secondary migration.”
Once refugees arrive in Boise, a host of agencies assists them in making a home. In recent years, local
refugee service organizations and the Idaho Commission on the Arts have joined forces to support newcomer
arts and cultures. Patty Haller, Assistant Director of the Idaho Office for Refugees, says of Boise, “It is a ‘soft
landing site’ because it is a large enough city to have services available, but a small enough city that you don’t
fall through the cracks easily. These are factors that the government looks at in determining where refugees
should land.”
Folk & Traditional Arts Program
The Idaho Commission on the Arts (ICA) promotes artistic excellence, access to, and community
investment in the arts for all. As the number of languages spoken in Boise tops 100, the ICA’s long-range
plan counts support for immigrant heritage arts among its core services. Michael Faison, ICA Executive
Director, explains, “As an agency, we’re here to assist in the state’s thriving cultural life. Through our Folk
and Traditional Arts Program, we have seen that people who are new to our state come with a myriad of
traditions that are integral to the everyday lifestyle that they experienced back home.”
The ICA’s Folk & Traditional Arts Program documents and assists in the continuation and presentation
of Idaho’s traditional folk arts. Folk arts are shared cultural expressions in families, communities, ethnic
and occupational groups, tribes, regions, or religions. They are passed on informally through oral tradition
and practice. The folk arts program serves newcomer communities through apprenticeship grants, research,
and partnerships with social service and community organizations. Folk & Traditional Arts Director Maria
Carmen Gambliel notes, “My concern is to spread the scope of services already provided to long-established
residents to immigrant and refugee communities. I’m an immigrant myself, so it’s part of my living
experience to get to know a new place and fit in, without shedding my identity.”
Mountain States Group
The Idaho Office for Refugees (IOR) coordinates the state’s resettlement and integration services in Boise
and Twin Falls. It operates under the umbrella of Mountain States Group, a private non-profit organization.
In Boise, the IOR contracts with the International Rescue Committee, World Relief, and the Agency for New
Americans to provide support for employment, case management, English language training, and cash
assistance for refugees. The IOR also cooperates with organizations that assist—although it is not their primary
responsibility—with refugee education, housing, and health care.
In the face of these urgent needs, traditional arts and culture also have an important place. IOR Assistant
Director Patty Haller reflects, “Ultimately, the goal of our programs is to help refugees return to a sense of
normalcy, become contributing members of society, and regain control over their own lives. The arts help people
feel grounded in the midst of so many things over which they have no control. Practicing their traditions, doing
things that use their creativity and remind them of what they loved about their lives before the trauma and the
tragedy, are really important in making resettlement services work. It can give people a center and a safe haven.”
Mountain States Group
The English Language Center (ELC) offers English as a Second Language (ESL) classes, accommodating
students from vastly different backgrounds. Ten course levels range from pre-literate through advanced. The
program’s curriculum centers on “survival topics” that help students negotiate life in a new home, including
health literacy, community economics, citizenship, and most importantly, employment. The ELC gets students out
of the classroom to ride the bus and visit the library, museums, and the supermarket, where they can apply their
English skills to real-life situations.
English Language Center classes bring students from diverse cultures together. Director Steve Rainey finds that
interest in each other’s cultures promotes learning, as English becomes the language of communication. Rainey
believes, “There’s a huge element of mental health intertwined in language and culture and art. All refugees are
survivors of trauma. As their culture is valued, it brings more meaning to their lives, and provides an indirect
psychological support system. It’s almost cyclical—more access to expressing one’s own language and culture
develops a better sense of mental health. Research shows that when the instructor and community are more open
and accepting of people’s cultures and languages, they actually learn English faster.”
Mountain States Group
The Agency for New Americans (ANA), a Mountain States Group program, provides services to help
refugee families integrate into the Boise community and gain self-sufficiency. The agency’s services include
individualized case management, employment training and placement, English language tutoring, health
assessment and medical referral, immigration assistance, cultural and community orientation, and interim
financial assistance. The ANA works simultaneously with diverse cultural communities. Director Christina Bruce-
Bennion observes, “Part of the challenge of helping people make Boise home is that the definition of ‘home’
is very different from group to group. Though we provide essentially the same services, with each new culture
it’s almost like starting from scratch, identifying which connections are important—whether it’s their faith
community or a soccer team or some kind of art, something that has a healing effect. To the extent that we
can, we connect them in ways that aren’t just about the social services.”
In the current economic climate, the ANA is coordinating with other agencies serving refugees to help
newcomers cope with the housing and job shortfalls confronting many Americans. Through enhanced
communication and collaboration, service providers are strengthening the safety net. Looking ahead, Bruce-
Bennion is optimistic: “Out of the crucible of crisis comes a better way.”
The International Rescue Committee (IRC) is a global organization whose Boise branch assists
recently arrived refugees with housing, health care, English language classes, residency and citizenship status,
children’s education, and general community support. Their services help build job, computer, and financial
literacy skills. In addition, the IRC develops innovative programs addressing clients’ needs. For example, a
knitting class gives women a place to socialize while honing marketable skills. An after-school art program
provides refugee youth an outlet for self-expression and releasing trauma. The Peace Bird origami project
prepares refugee seniors for citizenship exams.
Director Leslye Moore is often asked why the U.S continues to resettle refugees during tough economic
times. Having worked overseas in refugee camps and war zones, she responds, “We’re providing
humanitarian protection, and I would hope that the same warmth and welcome would be extended to me if
I were in that situation. It’s not a matter of jobs, it’s a matter of saving a life. It’s important to remember that
human connection—we’re all in this together.” Working with a large volunteer base, Moore finds abundance
even in lean times. She considers Boise “a very rich community, as far as people being willing to give of
themselves and their time and the resources they have.”
World Relief connects refugees with local resources needed to adjust to life in a new and unfamiliar
place. In Boise, World Relief offers employment training and placement, services for the elderly, church
partnerships, immigration assistance, and other programs fostering integration and self-sufficiency.
These services begin the moment a refugee steps off the plane. Church and volunteer coordinator and
former case manager Sue Hagler greeted clients at the airport, helping them settle in apartments found and
furnished in advance. She remembers Bosnians especially loved “beautiful lace tablecloths and lace over
their sofas and dining table. I tried to find those things at garage sales and different places so that when they
arrived, they were coming to a good place. We tried as hard as we could to make that home welcoming.”
In her work, Hagler found that cultural orientation was a two-way street. Regardless of their background,
all of her clients served her coffee or tea and food during home visits. Reflecting on the personal rewards of
her work, she says, “I’ve learned to be more hospitable in my own life, when people come into my home. I
learned that from them, the refugees, that I need to take time with people.”
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