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American Friends Helping Refugees, One Family at a Time
November 6, 2009
Imagine arriving in Portland, Maine from a refugee camp in Somalia or Burma and not knowing the language or the customs of America. How do I mail a letter? What do traffic lights mean? What type of clothing do I need to survive a Maine winter? These simple tasks are often taken for granted but to a refugee, learning American customs and social etiquette can be an overwhelming experience. This is where an American Friend steps in to help.
To a refugee our country is another world. The American Friends program, through Catholic Charities Maine Refugee and Immigration Services, is designed to match caring, English-speaking families or individuals with refugee families to help ease the very difficult transition these refugees experience when they move from their country and culture to ours. Generally, the American Friends volunteer helps the refugee family: Learn to function independently in their new surroundings, cope with cultural shock, preserve their cultural identity, and learn a new language.
Tobin Hagelin and her family have been volunteering as American Friends to Dayreh and Someh from Burma since June of this year. According to Tobin the experience has been “such a valuable learning experience for herself and her family.” Volunteering with her refugee family for just an hour or two a week has created a bond between the 2 families that will last a lifetime. Tobin’s daughter has play dates with Dayrek and Someh’s daughter, and her teenage sons take the older children on bike rides around the neighborhood. Tobin remarked, “if you just give what time you can, you will make a difference in someone’s life.”
You can make a difference in someone’s life! For additional information on the American Friends program, please contact Aimee Vlachos-Bullard, Volunteer Coordinator, at (207)523-2737 or at abullard@ccmaine.org.
Falmouth Middle School Student Takes Class
Assignment to Extraordinary Lengths to Help Families!
June, 15, 2009
Sarah Caldwell, age 11, turned what started as a simple 6th grade Social Studies project at Falmouth Middle School into a collaborative effort to provide help and hope to newly arrived refugees. The assignment was to find a current event and to do a project about what you can do to help. After reading about an influx of refugee families in the newspaper she decided to begin researching refugees in the Portland area.
Sarah met with Arian Giantris, Program Director for Catholic Charities Maine Refugee and Immigration Services, and Tarlan Ahmadov, Lead Case Manager, to learn more about the program and what she could do to help. “We were so pleased to meet Sarah,” commented Tarlan. “For someone so young to do something so extraordinary was wonderful for our newly arriving families. It means so much!”
Incoming refugee families often arrive with nothing but the clothes on their backs and a few small possessions. After learning about what incoming refugee families needed, Sarah began a fundraising campaign to buy hygiene products. She began with a bottle drive that resulted in raising $46, but to Sarah that wasn’t enough. She went on to do extra household chores and held a bake sale to raise another $50. Still, she didn’t stop there. Next she spoke to the Kids Who Care group at the Plummer-Motz School in Falmouth. After educating them about the needs of refugees, The Kids Who Care group held a bottle drive and raised another $80. Parents were even making donations from returning their bottles at home. In total she was able to raise just over $200!
Sarah purchased 14 bars of soap, 4 bottles of shampoo, 4 shaving kits, 4 lotions with lip moisturizers, 6 dish cloths, 4 toothpastes, 4 6-packs of toothbrushes, 2 first aid kits, and 4 tote bags to hold everything. She also bought 4 pillows as well as 20 towels. She then delivered them to Catholic Charities Maine.
Sarah didn’t stop there! She and her family greeted two incoming refugee families at the airport. With a generous heart she prepared welcome baskets with homemade baked goods and flowers. Sarah commented, “One of the most meaningful moments was when we greeted the Iranian family. They didn’t know very much English. When I gave them the welcome basket their daughter began looking through it, and she looked so happy and smiled at me. She didn’t know how to say “thank you,” but that meant a lot.”
Catholic Charities Maine’s review has been
approved by the Council on Accreditation
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May 4, 2009
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Catholic Charities Maine very proudly announces our agency's re-accreditation through December 31, 2009 by the Council on Accreditation (COA)! This accreditation places the programs at Catholic Charities Maine in a very select group, having been closely studied and identified for meeting or exceeding standards of organizational strength and quality of service. COA is the "seal of approval" for agencies today. We believe that all children and families deserve the high-quality services recognized by COA.
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COA reaccreditation is an objective and reliable verification that provides confidence and support to an organization’s service recipients, board members, staff, and community partners. The COA reaccreditation process involves a detailed review and analysis of both an organization’s administrative operations and its service delivery practices. All are “measured” against national standards of best practice. These standards emphasize services that are accessible, appropriate, culturally responsive, evidence based, and outcomes-oriented, In addition, they confirm that the services are provided by a skilled and supported workforce and that all individuals are treated with dignity and respect.
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Because COA reviews and reaccredits the entire organization, not just specific programs, all of our supporters and consumers can have confidence in the credibility, integrity and achievement of our entire organization.
Since 1966, Catholic Charities Maine has dedicated itself to creating, administering, and advocating for programs and services that reach out and meet the critical human service needs of our state. Our professionally trained staff and over 1,000 volunteers help individuals from birth through old age overcome obstacles in their lives that threaten their self-sufficiency. Last year, we provided services to over 45,000 individuals in Maine, and touched the lives of countless others.
January 21, 2009
