By CAMERON MILLER
Contributing Writer
There is a population in Albany that goes largely unnoticed and unrecognized, and it is unfortunately the population that arguably needs the most help and assistance from the community- refugees.
This issue has been taken into serious consideration by Albany Mayor Elect Kathy Sheehan, who hopes to unite the power of city hall with the many non-profits already in place and devise a plan of attack to truly provide a stable plan of living for these families who are entering a completely new and disorienting culture.
Unknown to many residents, Albany is a city that hosts a very high percentage of refugees because it is a fairly centrally located urban center that also has readily accessible public transportation, and access to jobs in a city that is affordable to live in. This makes Albany a very high target area for refugees from other countries that were forced out of their past homes to be placed, where they can start a new life. Sheehan hopes to address this issue that has been overlooked for far too long by city hall.
An event took place on Nov. 21 at Saint Rose in the Sanctuary hopes to address this issue, and brings together many of the large figures that have a hand in helping these refugees get back on their feet and become self sustaining. Mayor Elect Sheehan who includes the issue in her new political platform, along with prominent members of Refugee and Immigrant Support Services of Emmaus, and the US Committee for Refugees and Immigrants discussed a plan of attack to better aid these new residents who are attempting to get integrated into an overwhelmingly different environment.
Sheehan opened the forum discussing the difficulty of helping this populace and said, “You don’t become a refugee without being displaced. The whole notion of being displaced is something that if you don’t experience or empathize with, you can end up causing more damage than helping.”
Jill Peckenpaugh, director of the U.S. Committee for Refugees and Immigrants is hopeful about this new effort but realizes there are still challenges for governmentally funded programs for refugees.
“We do struggle, there is initial funding for those first three months that helps refugees find an apartment, get furniture, find a job, all those crucial things, but it’s a thirty day program that can be extended to 90 days… I would love if there was a way to maintain a relationship with refugees for years and years but formally there is no way to do that,” said Peckenpaugh.
While USCRI is only able to help with the basic foundation, coordination between city hall and nonprofits like RISSE could help solve that problem. RISSE is a place for children and parents alike to begin to acclimate to the culture and education system of the United States.
With their presence in the Pine Hills area beginning in 2007, RISSE offers after school programs for students that help with tutoring and also provides a social place for many foreign students with the same struggles to discuss what they are going through. The staff at RISSE is also very diverse themselves, which helps to forge a more comfortable environment for these families going through culture shock.
Rifat Filkins, executive director of RISSE said, “It’s a very diverse place, so that helps a lot. We have people from Rwanda, our operations director is from Rwanda, and I’m from Pakistan.”
A student at The College of Saint Rose, who also volunteers at RISSE, Abby Brigham found her way into the program during Urban Launch, and now has a work study position in the support center where she enjoys helping foreign students.
“We tutor them and then help them and keep them busy,” said Brigham. “The adult program is mainly English classes to help them learn the language; it’s like a socializing platform for them too.”
Sheehan also notices the potential to achieve integration through education
“What we realized is that we know how to get people out of poverty, you educate them,” said Sheehan. “A good education is the path out of poverty. How do we ensure that every child has the opportunity to succeed? Looking at this population of youth is ideal to be doing it now. If we can build support systems outside and inside school systems now and do things in city hall that are part of the solution and not the problem than we will see the benefits in our city.”
This initial discussion certainly brings a spotlight to the issue, but it will take much coordination and work to get to the root of the problem and begin changing things. There is a very large discrepancy between education systems in the United States and other foreign countries. The language barrier adds another layer of learning on top of basic comprehension, which makes it difficult for foreign students to keep up in class.
Transferring from another foreign education can be challenging as well, which is recognized by 28-year-old Olena Sadovnik, who currently attends The College of Saint Rose after receiving the Fulbright Scholarship. After attending the college, she noticed many differences between her old education in Ukraine and the one she now receives at The College of Saint Rose.
“The process is about memorizing,” said Sadovnik. “They lecture and you take notes and do exams and you are done. Here I feel like students are more challenged. You need to express your opinion and support your opinion. It’s more about expressing yourself than memorizing something.”
While the discussion on Nov. 21 was a very progressive big step for a big issue, it will take continued conversations between city hall and non profits like RISSE to put together a strong plan of action to help these families become stable and active members in the Albany community, and find their stride.
Kathy Sheehan recognizes the immediate need to intervene and help these families and said, “If we start to proactively look at how we can better connect the refugees who are coming into this city looking for jobs, the faster we can get them employed and working, the faster they can get engaged in the community, and the faster they can provide for their families and not be worrying about ‘Where will I get my next meal?’.”
