Refugee Resettlement Done Right!

Sure, bringing refugees here is a sensitive subject: checking health and qualifications, avoiding those intent on harm, all very necessary. Hidden is the longer challenge: truly resettling them into productive US lives. John Harbison of our Club, plus Jason Myers of East Amherst Rotary described yesterday how Journey’s End Refugee Services (and others) are creating success stories here. Green Shoots for New Americans helps / trains refugees to ‘urban farm’ and make a profit from it! West Side Bazaar provides an incubator for their small businesses. Jason has been helping with the business practices side of a unique multilingual newspaper: Karibu News. Imagine a paper with articles on people and activities around the city – and those articles in English / French / Swahili / Arabic (and some other I don't recognize)! Its tough to imagine a huge wave of refugees from Syria and other ‘hot spots’. Surely we in WNY can take some, groups like Journey’s End can make them into useful souls here. Whether GI Rotary can run service projects to help (helping refurbish houses? ?) requires more thought and planning, we will try to do all we can. Meanwhile we help collect warm clothing for those that are here.