INFO CENTER
ACANA will serve individuals and families from
the African refugee, asylees and immigrant
communities in Philadelphia.
Civil war in the African countries has forced
many Africans to seek refuge in the United
States either as refugees, asylees or as
immigrants. According to the Office of
Immigration services, 607,000 Africans have
arrived in the United States as immigrants since
1989, 101,341 refugees since 1990 and 38,705
asylees since 1998.
When African refugees, asylees and immigrants
arrive, they are often traumatized and shocked.
They usually have no jobs and no financial
support to fall back on. In addition, they are
in poor health, often because they have moved
from town to town or from one refugee camp to
another. The children may have not been in
school for several years, or they may have not
been to school at all. Academic achievement in
this country becomes frustrating for many of the
youth because many are placed in grade levels
according to their chronological age rather than
on basic skills competency.
As is often the case
in refugee-producing situations, women
and children become the most vulnerable members
of the refugee community and are specially
affected by war related violence.
Although they do not
start the wars, children experience the negative
consequences of conflict as their lives are
disrupted, shattered, or lost. And in a number
of countries such as Liberia, children serve as
combatants. We have heard of child
soldiers being recruited, or often, recruited
against their will to fight as soldiers in the
war. Even when
children are spared direct injury, psychological
trauma, or death during violent conflicts,
social safety nets such as family, community,
schools, and other institutions break down, and
the material and social needs of children are
sacrificed. In refugee camps or in
temporary quarters, foraging for food has become
a way of life for the children and while their
counterparts the world over, surfed the
internet, read books, sang along with Barney,
and played math games on computers, these
children learned to face life daily through the
cruelest encounters with nature or the despair
of refugee life.
According to the 2000 Census data, there are
24136 Africans in the City of Philadelphia.
Eleven percent (11%) of these families are on
public assistance compared to nine percent (9%)
for the city of Philadelphia. Twenty six percent
(26%) of the families have income below the
poverty level compared to (22% for the city as a
whole. Many of the African families have
settled mostly in the southwest areas of the
city and within a three-mile radius from the
ACANA offices: census tract 70, 71, 74 and 72.
According to Census 2000 data 34% of families
with children under 18 from these tracts have
incomes below the poverty level compared to 9%
for the city as a whole, and that 18% are on
public assistance compared to 9% for the city of
Philadelphia. Mitchell Elementary School and
Shaw Middle School, who serve the southwest
areas report that 80% of the students they serve
come from low-income families compared to 70 %,
served by the whole district.
Whatever their expectations, many refugees
resettling in the United States have difficulty
in adjusting to new physical settings, language,
cramped and poorly maintained housing in poor
areas, and the pressure to be self-sufficient.
Language, isolation, and financial insecurity
were the hardest obstacles to overcome. Work, a
necessity for self-sufficiency and self-esteem
in the United States, can ironically also be a
cause of stress and humiliation for refugees.
People who were professionals in their home
countries sometimes feel degraded by doing
factory work, and cleaning hotels and buildings.
On the other hand, refugees who are illiterate
often have trouble coping in a more highly
skilled labor force, and sometimes cannot
support their families.
Although children and teenagers are often
resilient and the fastest to learn a new
language, they, too, often have adjustment
problems, including adapting to drastically
different school environments and encountering
conflict with other ethnic groups.
Teenagers also assume a lot of responsibility
for their parents, because they are often the
first to be bilingual. This means they are
paying the bills, doing the shopping, and
worrying about their parents while also dealing
with their own trauma. Kids walk around on
eggshells trying not to cause more distress to
the family.
Human service providers and resettlement workers
are increasingly aware that refugees and
survivors of violence and war need greater,
earlier access to culturally appropriate
services to help them deal with both the trauma
from which they fled and the challenge of
adjusting to life in the United States. ACANA
was established because of the felt need
identified by the African community leaders to
provide services to the larger African
community. As an agency providing basic services
to and accessible to the African refugee, asylee
and immigrant community, ACANA is in a unique
position to provide needed services by the
African community. Working, living and sharing
the same history with the members of the
community has honed the expertise of ACANA to
deliver culturally sensitive services. There
exists a trust between ACANA and the members of
the community that allows support and feedback
to be given and received openly and therefore
establishes a better basis for learning and
change.
I.
Evaluation
What do you expect to accomplish in the funding
period.
At least 200 individuals and their families from
the African refugee, asylee and immigrant
communities will be provided with basic social
services.
At least 55 youth will be provided with literacy
remedial skills through the Afterschool
Program. Eighty percent (80%) will continue to
attend school. At least ten percent (10%) will
show improved grades in their report card.
Fifteen youth will be taught computer hardware
assembly and repair. One hundred percent (100%)
will finish the program.
Five ESL participants will take the citizenship
test.
A strategic plan will be developed.
Methods that will be used to assess program
effectiveness include: participant intake and
tracking form to follow participant progress and
movement into, within and out of the activity;
monthly reviews and update of client forms and
Project documentation; monthly report on the
number of participants served, objectives that
were accomplished for the month, objectives that
were not accomplished and the recommended
strategies for accomplishing those objectives.
Monthly reports and service delivery statistics
will be collected, reviewed and submitted to the
Executive Director.
Anticipated consequences of eliminating or not
undertaking the project.
The needs of the African refugee, asylee and
immigrant individuals in Philadelphia will
continue to be unmet and the opportunities for
economic self-sufficiency and an enhanced
quality of life will be out of reach for this
population.
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