- What are some of the key things that make up your life?

Is it friends, family, culture, maybe food?

These are the things many refugees are forced to leave, or adapt to as they resettle.

Entering into a new place with often new languages, customs, systems, and more.

That's on top of the stress that already comes with seeking refuge.

And as more and more neighbors enter into West Michigan, we wanna find out what resources are available to them.

I'm Kylie Ambu, and on today's "Mutually Inclusive," we hear from our refugee communities who now call this place home.

(upbeat bright music) Every day, there are people around the world who make the brave and difficult decision to leave their country, their home, in search of safety.

While there are different classifications of new neighbors entering the United States, refugees are people who have been forced to flee their home because of war, violence, or persecution often without warning.

Those in the United States have the opportunity to set down roots as permanent residents, and eventually become citizens, And Michigan plays a big role in this.

With data showing that we are currently the sixth largest state in the country when it comes to resettling refugees.

And here in West Michigan, dedicated organizations are working to ensure these new community members have the tools they need to thrive.

Not just adults, but children too.

Right now, we'll hear from the Refugee Education Center out of Kentwood which holds a special spot for youth achievement.

Within the diverse and vibrant neighborhoods of Kentwood, Michigan, sits a center of inclusion and transformation.

- I feel so humbled to do this work.

One of our values here at Refugee Education Center is mutuality, and we really approached the work in a very mutual way.

- [Kylie] Founded in 2006 by Somali Bantu refugees, the Refugee Education Center partners with and supports incoming neighbors.

Ensuring new refugees have the tools needed to fully participate and thrive in their new community.

- [Meg] So when a refugee family is resettled in Grand Rapids in the traditional way through resettlement agency.

If they have school-aged children, they're referred to us.

Our organization has 11 refugee navigators.

All of those people are of refugee background.

They speak 28 languages among them and help the family figure out what grade the children are in, where they should go to school, and then guide that enrollment process for the family.

- When I came here, I was 11 years old, and my parents didn't have like refugee community, like organization that can be able to assist them with interpreting.

In so many ways, I'm really thankful because when I see this community, it's people that came from the same camp that I was in.

So it makes me feel like I'm really serving my mom, or my dad, or my brothers, and sister.

- [Kylie] Agnes Kamanzi was born in a refugee camp in Rwanda after her parents fled the Congo.

She recalls specific challenges in the education system once her family was resettled in the States.

A story she hopes to rewrite for kids today.

- So when I started school, there was no other students that was able to speak Swahili or Kenya Rwanda that can communicate with me, and I feel like I was kind of traumatized 'cause they're saying things that I can't understand.

And when I went in high school, I started understanding English a little bit.

When we have parents-teacher conference, I would tell my parents but they wouldn't understand.

So the fact that I'm working at REC, it really makes me happy 'cause I'm providing services that I never received.

- [Kylie] The center serves individuals zero to 24 with a variety of education programs designed to meet community members where they're at.

- So we also run an early childhood center that is focused on providing multilingual, culturally competent, and sensitive care to children, and some of the women who teach at our early childhood center called Hands Connected are also refugees themselves.

It's a very special place.

We also have a program for our high school children.

Kids come at an older age.

It can be more complicated to get through high school by the time they're aged out of high school.

So that's its own program with special navigation services for those students.

- [Kylie] It's not only about preparing students for their academic journey, the center says it's important that local schools are ready to embrace them.

- A lot of schools around here are prepared for Spanish speaking youth, but the students we serve are not Spanish speaking.

They speak probably one of 24 languages, and so schools are just not prepared for that multilingual aspect of supporting students.

And then a lot of cultural differences that might be experienced in the school, both for the teacher and the other students.

We want them to feel prepared to welcome another classmate.

- [Kylie] For many refugees, education isn't simply defined by lectures or pages in a textbook.

The center says it's also about creating a nurturing environment where individuals, especially those who have experienced displacement, can heal and grow.

The trauma that our students have experienced before they've come to the US is significant.

We try to help schools prepare for that trauma too, and just understand the refugee experience.

- So when I came here, I started in sixth grade, and when I was attending school, our first day of school was very scary for me, and I just ran away.

- [Kylie] The overall goal is for refugees to feel they can fully participate in the communities as equals.

Finding their own sustainable path as they make this land home.

- We go above and beyond and we step in.

We help them with reading letters, submitting application for the safety net food stamp, and you already there, and they need you to help.

You still provide it so you can have that connection with them.

- I think that we underestimate the ability for our refugee neighbors to really be successful in America, and we maybe make assumptions that are inaccurate, and so part of our work is helping our community not think those things anymore, or lifting up the stories that are of success.

(upbeat bright music) - It can be mind blowing thinking of all the things refugees have to adapt to in our society.

And like the Refugee Education Center said, it's important for our incoming neighbors to feel support from community during their move to the area.

There are other impactful organizations also answering this call like Bethany Christian Services, which since 2002, has resettled more than 17,400 refugees, or Treetops Collective, which connects with and invests in refugee women as they build their new lives.

Now all of this falls on the backdrop of being a welcoming community, but what does that look like on the large scale?

"Mutually Inclusive's" Jennifer Moss is in the studio with members of Kent County's welcome plan to find out.

- Hello, everyone.

We are very happy to welcome two people who are very instrumental in helping refugees make America, and more specifically, West Michigan home and Kent County home.

Of course, Hollin de la Cruz.

You are the Kent County's Welcome Plan coordinator, and Dr. Esai Umenei, a founding member of the African Collaborative Network, and you served on the West Michigan Welcome Plan Collaborative Data and Metrics work group since you began in November of 2022.

Welcome to you both.

- Thank you.

- Thank you.

- We appreciate you being here.

So Kylie Ambu just took a look at some of the difficulties faced by refugees, as well as a couple of places that aim to help them and help refugee settle into West Michigan such as the Refugee Education Center in Kentwood, Bethany Christian Services, and the like.

She also mentioned that Michigan is the sixth largest state in the US when it comes to resettling refugees.

So tell us Hollin about Kent County's welcome plan, and all that's happening there.

I guess everything from, you know, you have opportunities to civic engagement.

- Correct, so Kent County Welcome Plan came about in through research and community engagement back in 2018, 2019.

The plan itself launched in September of 2020.

So this started as a community created, community-led initiative that focused on different priority areas.

Economics, schools, engaging communities, safe communities, access to services, and the like.

Fast forward a little bit, in 2022 we launched the Welcome Plan Collaborative, and that has more of a kind of the actions that are written into the welcome plan document.

And so we launched focus groups with different sectors, different organizations and community members at the table to offer some deliverables to service scans, identify gaps in service, and really push into those gaps collaboratively.

- [Jennifer] So the collaborative then is more of a regional look at this, and then what the welcome plan for Kent County obviously aims directly at the folks that are here.

- Correct.

Correct.

So all the research and community engagement that fed into the Kent County welcome plan was located in Kent County.

I started my role in June of 2022.

So it's been a little over a year, and in that time, we've received funding from the office of Global Michigan to expand our collaborative regionally.

So now predominant areas that we're focusing on are Ottawa and Kent County.

And so we've always had member organizations that serve West Michigan.

Now we're dipping into Ottawa County a little more and seeing what services they have offering different things that are available to community members in both areas, such as our grant writing workshops, our first global gathering that just happened last month, and the like.

- Okay, because you have a lot of activities going on.

I saw the the weekly newsletter that goes out now, and that gives an update on all the things that are happening so people can stay informed, right?

- [Hollin] Correct.

- So Dr. Umenei, you serve on the West Michigan Welcome Plan Collaborative Data and Metrics work group as we mentioned.

What are you looking at exactly in that capacity?

We're looking at the numbers, the numbers of refugees here, and how you're servicing them.

What are you looking at?

- Yeah, so we're predominantly concerned with putting data behind the decisions that are being made in terms of services, and the things that are provided for welcoming people, not just refugees, but immigrants as a whole into this region.

And that includes sometimes translation services, how many languages are spoken, are the services available for those people?

In health, schooling, education, so we're pretty much trying to figure out how much data we can get to give to the other subcommittees to help them enable to actually actualize the work that they want to do.

And so it's just easier to be able to do or make policy when you actually have the data to back it up.

- I was gonna say, if you have the numbers and that data, then you can zero in on those needs.

- Correct, and also to find the gaps, where the gaps in data are, and try to see if we can plug them.

- How many refugees are we looking at here in West Michigan or Kent County specifically that you are servicing or helping through the welcome plan?

- I don't think we have a fine-tuned number of that.

- I don't know the number.

- Because there isn't a fine line of like, you need to be this status for us for you to access our services.

Essentially our services are for any refugees, immigrants, anybody who identifies as a new American.

So this could even be first generation folks who grew up in a X, Y, Z language speaking household and still have some of those barriers that you may have if you're a new arrival.

So there are certainly numbers that's collected by resettlement agencies on how many refugees are resettled each year in Kent County.

And I will say Kent County is leading in the state in refugee resettlement, and I'm a part of that, but I can't say I've touched the life of every single one.

- Absolutely, so tell me each of you, I want you to address, how important is the Welcome Plan and the collaborative for those refugees and others, new Americans, seeking to make West Michigan home, and to really get settled in from everything to employment, to civic engagement, and the like.

Dr. Umenei, I'll start with you.

- I think it's essential because, I mean, I settled here 14 years ago, but I came in even as a working professional.

So I had fewer roadblocks, but it was still really difficult for me settling, finding services, finding food that I could recognize, and things like that, and so I could only imagine for people who are coming in new, refugees, immigrant, students, that's even more difficult.

So being able to have a plan that can give them some of the services at their fingertips in the language that they can understand cannot be underestimated.

That is really an important way of giving them a sense of, okay, I am where I can start life because some of these people are starting from scratch.

And so I think what the work that the Welcome Plan is doing is quite vital, and hopefully we can expand it as much as possible.

- And things like food and just identifying and feeling a little bit like home.

Those are so important.

- Hollin, in your opinion?

- So I feel like we're as important as the community feels we are, and so their participation within this work is vital for what we're doing.

So having immigrant and refugee voices amplified at every level of the organization, I mean, this is work we do together, right?

It's building a community.

We're just getting started so I'm just super excited to continue to see this work grow, to continue to bring on more community members.

Anyone's welcome to join from whether it's from I have a business hat, or I'm just a community member that wants to get involved.

So I have seen and heard feedback that it has been just better communication, more access to understanding of what each service provider gives even among the service providers themselves.

Understanding, oh this is what this organization does, and I can do these warm referrals, or we can collaborate on this.

- Less silos.

- Exactly.

- Information and communication both key, right?

- Yes - Yes.

- Absolutely.

I wanna thank both of you for being here today.

Important information, important work that you're doing.

We wish you the best in continuing to do that at the Welcome Plan and beyond.

- Thank you so much.

- Thank you.

Same to you.

(upbeat bright music) - Refugees come from all over the world, and support for each group, each person, each culture may look different.

We've heard today that many of our new West Michigan neighbors have traveled from places like the Democratic Republic of Congo.

Well, this next group is supporting not just Congolese, but all of our community's African refugees who call West Michigan home.

- [Speaker] As an immigrant, you have multiple identities.

You have where you come from, where you are tied to your roots.

Your family is still there.

You have this new home that you've built.

- [Kylie] In the first eight months of 2023, data shows 31,800 refugees were admitted into America.

Of those new arrivals, 43% hail from Africa.

The continent is the most diverse in the world.

Home to 54 countries and estimated 3,000 ethnic groups, and over 2,000 languages.

It's among these vast cultural differences refugees in West Michigan have found community.

- I wanted to create visibility and find a sense of belonging that would bring all of us together, and that's why I say bringing people together is the slogan of A Glimpse Of Africa.

- [Kylie] Fridah Kanini is an immigrant from Kenya who wanted to find a better way to support incoming African neighbors, which includes refugees.

- A Glimpse Of Africa is really almost my own story that I see in so many other refugees and immigrants.

Specifically when I immigrated here, I was very young, I didn't have my family with me.

My mom was a single mother.

So my goal when I was coming to America was to come and quickly achieve that American dream, change my family's life, you know, give them everything, but it wasn't the case.

You know, you come, you run into so many obstacles trying to get your documentations, process, immigration barriers, cultural barriers, systemic barriers, racism, and all those things.

- [Kylie] With so many newcomers experiencing these types of barriers A Glimpse of Africa has emerged as a safe haven.

Offering vital services to West Michigan's African community from organizing vaccine drives during the pandemic, to providing virtual mental health support, and even hosting the largest African cultural festival in West Michigan.

- There was over 5,000 people downtown at Roseville.

There was over 60 vendors selling their products from Africa directly sourced.

They were the first time they ever saw a platform to express themself.

That's also another reason that A Glimpse of Africa exists is to try to collect the data of the African immigrants and refugees, and making sure we are well articulated for when it comes to resource allocations.

We are currently actually working with Kent County Health Department to do community health needs assessment.

For the first time, they included, you can be identified as African American, but below you are able to say I'm an immigrant or I'm a refugee for the first time because we pushed for it.

- [Kylie] Within the organization, community navigators act as a guiding light.

Helping newcomers navigate the complexities of foreign land.

- So these are people who are helping people to know where to go if they have any kind of issues.

Just really a lot of socioeconomic determinants of health.

- [Kylie] Among this work, you'll find Rebecca Deng who offers help through lived experience.

Deng fled Sudan at the age of five, growing up in a Kenyan refugee camp.

At age 15, she was one of few Sudanese girls who were offered admittance to the United States.

- I came in 2000 with the program called The Lost Boys of Sudan, and what most people don't know was that there were 89 girls that came with about 3,700 boys, and those 79 girls some of us were accompanied refugee children.

So we had to live through a foster care system in the US.

It was really overwhelming to be honest.

I didn't know English.

So when I arrived with my foster family, it was really hard at first to understand like, what they are saying, and then I had to enroll in high school in Holland, Michigan.

Most of the time, I didn't even understand what the teachers were talking about.

- [Kylie] For many, Deng's journey is the picture of success.

Amid these challenges, she mastered the English language, advancing through high school, college, and graduate studies.

She even offered two books about her experience.

But while those pages show the proud outcome of her story, she acknowledges not everyone has the same starting line.

- Talent is universal, opportunities are not.

I'm where I am today because I was able to come to United States where have access to education, and where I wasn't having issues of forced marriage or thing like that.

I had a little bit of upper hand because I was in a foster care system in a middle class white community.

So the way I might have struggled if I didn't have that, you know, resource community would have been different, and that's why really I do the work I do because most refugees, they come, they are put into their own apartment, they don't know the language, they don't know the culture, the food is different, they don't know the law.

- [Kylie] Common barriers for refugees across the world can include language, access to community services, the ability to secure housing or a fulfilling job, but many African refugees face another obstacle.

Racism.

- I'm not white, but I grew up in a nation that was all Black.

So coming to United States as dark as I am, I was never conscious of my skin color because everybody looked like me.

But as I grew older later on, and especially when you get older and you get into issues of justice, that's when it become really, really difficult to talk to some people that have never maybe left their home.

- [Kylie] Refugees fleeing to America, a country whose roots are intertwined with racism, find themselves standing at a difficult intersection.

On top of these classic barriers like language, those categorized as Black must often navigate systems that were historically used as a weapon against people who look like them.

- Unfortunately, there is a disconnect between people here in the community that are coming here as new Americans.

There is no visibility, especially for Africans like us because we are under the same umbrella as African American.

So sometimes, yes, somebody came here maybe through a different journey a hundred years ago, somebody else is coming here two weeks ago, three weeks ago.

It's not the same challenges.

- [Kylie] A Glimpse Of Africa works not only as a shelter from this noise, but a place of belonging.

An opportunity for voices to not only be heard, but understood, and the right to embrace and take space in this new home.

- Make sure that people know we are here, and we are here to stay, and we call West Michigan home.

- [Kylie] Saying assimilation isn't the answer.

It's finding the sweet spot between their cultural identity and new home.

- I'm a Sudanese, I'm a former refugee, I'm an American citizen, you know, I'm a Black girl.

The point of bringing everybody together here in West Michigan is that they hear that same identity of we are dealing with this together.

We are in it together.

(upbeat bright music) - You know, Kylie, it's very important the information that's been presented here today that lets people know in West Michigan, Kent County, that there are numerous places that can help refugees, you know, become a part of a community and feel at home because it can be quite different.

Difficult.

- Yeah, absolutely, and I know right now we're focusing more on refugees 'cause they face different, you know, issues coming over.

But in the conversation today has also been immigrants, and my dad had immigrated here to the United States from Malaysia, and I know from stories that he had passed down to me, it's difficult.

Even the social aspects of a new culture and trying to make friends, and trying to have those connections can be really hard if you don't know anyone there, you've never done it before, you're plopped into a new land.

- Absolutely, and just like Dr. Umenei said, even things that a lot of people would just maybe take for granted, like food, and feeling like at home with that and that piece, finding the food that you're used to, and having stores, have a language where you can understand what you're getting and how you're going to assimilate that into all that you are your culture at home, you know?

And so even things like that, it's important to be able to have those resources that such as the Welcome Plan provides, that collaborative.

So there are so many resources at their fingertips, which is helping them move forward, and they're asking for more help as well if you're interested in doing that as well.

So that's a good piece of it as well.

- [Kylie] Yes, and I know like you said, with the Welcome Plan.

With A Glimpse Of Africa, I think it's so cool 'cause we talked about that almost really personal point and moment where you need to have people around you that maybe know some of the same foods you like, that maybe able to tell the same jokes, and I think what's great is even though Africa's such a diverse continent, there is that bit of familiarity there that they're able to to give.

- [Jennifer] Absolutely.

And as we have said this whole episode, resources are what can be the difference between thriving or surviving.

So we wanna make sure that you're leaving here with all of the information spread love to our West Michigan community.

- Absolutely, and you can find these resource links in past "Mutually Inclusive" episodes at wgvu.org/mutuallyinclusive.

But don't forget to follow our WGVU Facebook and YouTube pages to stay up to date with everything that is happening here in West Michigan.

- That's right, and thanks so much for joining us today, and for helping us to be mutually inclusive.

(upbeat bright music)