Program:
Job Training & Placement
- Budget:
-
$815,596
- Category:
-
Employment
- Population Served:
-
Immigrants/Newcomers/Refugees
-
Adults
Program Description:
Our services include orientation to the American workplace, job readiness preparation, assessment, case management, placement, and follow up. From time to time, we are able to provide special employment preparation classes, including CNA, housekeeper and sewing trainings.
Program Long-Term Success:
Although it can take multiple job placements and requires that clients regularly attend English classes, approximately 70% of newly arrived refugees can be working fulltime and on their way to self-sufficiency within a year after arrival.
Program Short-Term Success:
Each year, we place clients in approximately 250 jobs with an average starting wage of $8+ per hour. Approximately 2/3 of the jobs include group medical insurance.
Program Success Monitored by:
Various funders including state and national US Labor Dept funders.
Program Success Examples:
We can provide examples of refugees who, with our assistance, have managed to buy a home within a few years after their arrival.
Program:
Education, including ESOL
- Budget:
-
$835,963
- Category:
-
Education
- Population Served:
-
Immigrants/Newcomers/Refugees
-
Adults
Program Description:
Annually, more than 2,000 newcomers study English with us in a variety of classes designed to meet all language learning needs. The Institute is the largest state-funded English to Speakers of Other Languages (ESOL) site in Missouri.
In addition, we help prepare students for their US citizenship test, offer individualized literacy instruction, and provide a "Smart Classroom" where immigrants can learn the computer, prepare resumes and access online job boards, or even communicate with relatives back home.
Program Long-Term Success:
Immigrants who regularly attend English classes and participate in Education Department related activities learn English quickly and thoroughly, leading to a more successful integration process for the immigrant adult and their families.
Program Short-Term Success:
Annually, nearly 85% of our immigrant students improve their literacy and/or English skills as compared to national and state-mandated standards of 52%.
Program Success Monitored by:
Missouri Dept of Elementary and Secondary Education (DESE) and other funding bodies.
Program Success Examples:
We can provide numerous examples of former students who have now successfully achieved life goals, including professional recertification (medical, technical, etc.) and college graduation.
Program:
Client Services, including Refugee Resettlement & Mental Health
- Budget:
-
$2,706,494
- Category:
-
Human Services
- Population Served:
-
Immigrants/Newcomers/Refugees
Program Description:
We meet refugees we sponsor at the airport, takes them to housing that has been obtained for them, provides orientation, and helps them begin the process of building a new life in America. Depending on the needs of the refugee family, services can include registration for English classes for adults and public school for children, job program registration, and of course on-going orientation. A small per capita grant is provided for newly arrived refugees for housing and initial survival needs.
We also offer individual, group and family-centered services with an emphasis on post-traumatic stress, grief, depression and other responses due to migration-related trauma and torture.
Program Long-Term Success:
We serve not only as the largest sponsor of refugees in Missouri but also as the longer-term (up to 5 years after arrival) refugee service provider for Eastern Missouri. Thus, refugees-in-need are integrated into our education, employment and counseling services as a need is identified and a referral is made.
Program Short-Term Success:
Refugee resettlement services are government-mandated for 90-days after arrival. At that time, it is expected that the refugee families will be in stable housing and have been referred to the local agency which provides longer term federally-funded English, employment and case management services.
Program Success Monitored by:
State and national government funders.
Program Success Examples:
We resettled approximately 7,000 Bosnian refugees from 1993-2001. With secondary migration (Bosnians who were resettled elsewhere in the US and who then moved to St. Louis) the population is more than 50,000. Bosnians are hailed as good workers, business and home owners, and as an important new source of population.
Program:
Economic Development, including Peer Lending Circle & Global Farm
- Budget:
-
$403,151
- Category:
-
Community Development
- Population Served:
-
Immigrants/Newcomers/Refugees
Program Description:
We identify potential immigrant entrepreneurs, help them prepare a loan package, and provide ongoing technical assistance once the loan has been made to assure the success of the new business. These activities not only build capacity for our clients, they also mitigate risk for our lending arm, the International Institute Community Development Corporation (IICDC), which can lend up to $35,000 in start-up or expansion funds.
Our Peer Lending Circle model is simple. Low-income refugee and immigrant women can receive micro-business loans of $1,000 each to help them finance the start or strengthening of a micro-business. These loans are interest-free and must be paid back within 18 months of her loan closings.
The Global Farm (IIGF) Initiative is an agriculture-based career training program to provide refugees who desire a career in agriculture with a variety of educational opportunities intended for replication in their own farming endeavors in the US.
Program Long-Term Success:
Since the program's inception more than a decade ago, businesses it has helped have had more than $100 million of positive economic impact on the region (as measured by IMPLAN software using input and output data).
Program Short-Term Success:
Annually, approximately 30 small businesses are started or expanded with our help.
Program Success Monitored by:
Federal funding agencies as well as internal and external data sources.
Program Success Examples:
Nearly 75% of small businesses we help start or expand are still operating at 36 months compared with the US Small Business Administration's 25% survival rate.
Program:
Culture & Community, incl Festival of Nations, II Business Solutions Center, & Ethnic Mediation
- Budget:
-
$760,096
- Category:
-
Public, Society Benefit
- Population Served:
-
Immigrants/Newcomers/Refugees
Program Description:
We help newcomers become better integrated by offering training in civic engagement, mediation, and community-building to benefit our clients and the community-at-large. And we help St. Louisans build appreciation for cultural diversity by sponsoring special events, including our annual Festival of Nations.
Annually, we provide fee-based interpreter and translator services to more than 350 companies looking to enhance their global connections. Additionally, our highly acclaimed staff and consultants offer customized consulting, research and training to meet a whole host of needs.
Program Long-Term Success:
Programs in this category are about better connecting newcomers and long-timers in our community. While we can provide no concrete data, it is clear from customer feedback those who become involved are profoundly and positively affected by their interactions.
Program Short-Term Success:
Festival of Nations draws 140,000+ visitors from more than 100 zip codes. Annually, we conduct approximately 600 exit surveys.
Program Success Monitored by:
Internal strategic plan annual goals.
Program Success Examples:
Visitors at annual Festival of Nations consistently rate the event 3 or 4 on a 4-point scale (4 is highest). 98% of interpreter/translator bureau customers express highest satisfaction.