This February, we met 24 brave Afghan refugees. They were granted refuge in Wisconsin, but their situation was still difficult. Some of them had never worked before. Many could barely speak English. All were in a new community – thankfully, a community that came together to turn their refuge into a home.
Oshkosh has several resources for refugees, which our team connects with to ensure each client can succeed. For instance, this group learned about us from Refugee Cash Assistance, which was helping them start their new lives. Our FoodShare Employment and Training (FSET) and Road to Livelihood (RtL) programs then helped them start their dreams.
With FSET and RtL, these individuals learned how to navigate and succeed in their new home. They found essential resources, like housing and transportation, learned skills including English, and built a network they could trust.
“All of the agencies involved with these participants really went above and beyond to help them secure this employment,” says Rachel, a Case Worker in our FSET program. She explains that World Relief worked with her RtL teammate, Emily, to help our clients enroll in English classes. World Relief further “set up the interviews for the participants and helped them figure out transportation to the interview.”
In the meantime, our Job Developer, Angie, connected with Amcor, an employer that was eager to help refugees get established in Wisconsin. She further introduced Amcor to Oshkosh Express Delivery, which exceeded their typical duties by arranging a contract to transport these refugees to work.
Within three months, Amcor hired all 24 refugees! They’re excited to have them on board and are even discussing starting onsite English classes for refugees.
What an amazing network! Thank you for working together to make this possible.
