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Date: 9/21/2021
WESTERN MASS. – With an influx of immigrants from Afghanistan expected to enter the region, the Center for New Americans, which is based in Amherst, Northampton and Greenfield, is preparing to assist with education and connecting the evacuees to community resources.
Laurie Millman, the executive director of the Center for New Americans, said the organization serves immigrants by providing free English classes.
“We welcome and serve immigrants first and foremost with free English classes. We have been teaching English for 30 years and we teach several levels ranging from beginner, including pre-literate to high-intermediate. Everything is online with some small in-person options,” she said.
Along with English classes, Millman said the organization also offers other educational courses and helps connect immigrants to other community resources.
“We help people with technology, we teach civics, U.S. customs, career preparation, and then we offer support for our students in applying for and interviewing for jobs. We connect them with community resources, and we also have an immigration legal department, so we offer some immigration legal services,” she said. “It’s connecting to the community, referring them and giving them the tools to advocate on their own.”
While the influx of people from Afghanistan being called refugees by some, Millman said the proper term is evacuees based on the services available to them.
“Refugees is a term that has real benefits that come with it. These people are known as evacuees and the reason that is important is because some of them may have a legal status that will confer refugee benefits to them, which means they have access to health insurance and an allowance. If they are humanitarian parolees, it means they do not have the same benefits which means it will be harder for them,” she said.
With many of the immigrants coming into the area as evacuees, Millman said there are additional challenges to securing benefits for those people.
“What makes it challenging is if they do not have the status that confers refugee benefits, it means they will not necessarily have access to MassHealth. The challenge will be how to get them the health care, housing, and employment they need while also providing the legal services that enable them to apply for these,” she said. “It is a little more complicated and is going to require more community help, there is less institutional support available.”
Overall, Millman said local agencies are expecting 60 evacuees from Afghanistan to settle into the Northampton and Amherst area.
“Our understanding is that at least 60 people are coming into the Northampton Amherst area. We know the Catholic Charities we work with who resettle refugees have committed to assist at least 60 people to resettle in this region and we will work with them,” she said.
Millman said the Center for New Americans is preparing to teach the evacuees English and try to connect them to other services they may need.
“We are expecting Afghan evacuees to learn English with us. We know there will be needs for housing, for connections to health care, health insurance, and for employment. Although we are not typically as engaged in helping find housing, we have all kinds of community connections and work closely with a whole range of other service providers. We have advisors whose task is to help people find employment and connect them to the resources they need to move on with their lives,” she said.
With connections made during the COVID-19 pandemic and its existing relationship with Catholic Charities, Millman said the Center for New Americans is prepared to help.
“We expect to work with Catholic Charities, and we have had some interest in funders in having our organization mobilize. We have been involved in a lot of emergency relief we have distributed throughout the pandemic, so we have strong connections,” she said.
With an outpouring of people saying they would like to help, Millman said one of the current challenges is figuring out how to coordinate that volunteer energy.
“We are fortunate a lot of people have started to express an interest in volunteering. A lot of people are concerned and what to be helpful. We are trying to figure out how to take advantage of these good wishes and coordinate them,” she said. “We have tons of good will, but we do not have a lot of available, low-priced housing.”
Anyone interested in volunteering can reach out through the Center for New American’s website.
Millman said the Center for New Americans will help point the evacuees toward resources and education but will not directly be helping to settle people into the area.
“We are not a resettlement agency; what we do is we teach English, and we connect people to community resources. We are prepared to step up in this situation because there is a need. We are proposing to partner with a resettlement agency to collaborate. We are not proposing to do what we do not typically do, we are proposing to assist,” she said.