How to Help
The Work of BRSN: For each family that comes here, we assign 2 volunteer Coordinators, who work together to assess the situation and to make sure that the family gets everything they need. Many of our 30+ families right now are Latino, but some are Arabic, some are African, and a few are Mayan (we have interpreters for all these languages right now, but can always use more Spanish speakers).
The Biggest Problems Are: Our clients are terrified and traumatized, and it takes them time to trust someone and talk to the person, so we have someone whom they know and trust make the introductions between them and our volunteers. The other problem is that they have bills, but cannot work until they get work authorization (which takes up to 8 weeks. If they work “under the table” — for virtually no money — it could ruin their application for asylee status, and they have no recourse except a deportation hearing).
Thanks for continuing to offer your support to BRSN!
To become a volunteer, please reach out to us at bloomingtonrefugees@gmail.com or complete the Contact Form at the bottom of the page.
Consider volunteering today!
Thank you for your interest in volunteering with BRSN! Right now we have a variety of volunteer opportunities available in Bloomington.
All volunteers must be at least 18 years old. Have questions about opportunities in Bloomington? Reach out to us at bloomingtonrefugees@gmail.com. Please allow us time to respond to your inquiry about volunteering as we may have events or smaller staffing at that time.
To drive asylum seekers to local resource agencies –e.g., St. Vincent De Paul, Opportunity House, Goodwill, My Sister’s Closet, food pantries, ESL classes, MCUM — we would give the driver the names and addresses of resource sites. Also, we often drive asylum seekers and other immigrants to pro bono attorneys in Indy (Indiana Legal Services, Neighborhood Christian Legal Clinic) or Chicago. Also, if anyone has a trusted contact in Chicago, sometimes that person can host the client overnight and give the person a ride to the lawyer’s office or the federal courthouse in Chicago.
Because our clients cannot work until they receive work authorization (up to 8 weeks), they often need a place to stay for one or one and a half months. (Usually the time can be split up among hosts.)
Often people might simply need a friend to have over for tea. Or perhaps someone to familiarize them with the bus system, and the way grocery and other retail stores work. We can get bicycles for them very economically at IU Surplus, but they need to know safe bicycling practices, as well as safe driving practices.
We sometimes hold winter clothing drives – (since our clients usually don’t have sufficient winter coats, scarves, mittens). And sometimes Exodus in Indy asks us to start a drive for certain items for their refugees, so of course we do that, and then bring everything up to Indy. Because of all the supply agencies here, such as Opportunity House and Goodwill, and because we do not have storage space, we do not collect or store other clothes, household items, etc.
Mondetary Donations: The other kind of help needed is donations for BRSN (Bloomington Refugee Support Network). We are a nonprofit 501c3 organization. All donations are tax deductible. Monetary donations can be made via the Donate page. We help the asylum seekers with phone bills, and if they have a “low-bono” attorney who has put them on a payment plan, we can help with the first few monthly payments; we also help with required application fees (some as high as $1,300), required medical tests, and transportation to Indy and Chicago when needed for legal assistance or hearings.
Frequently Asked Questions
According to the United Nations, a refugee “is someone who has been forced to flee his or her country because of persecution, war, or violence. A refugee has a well-founded fear of persecution for reasons of race, religion, nationality, political opinion or membership in a particular social group.”
USA for UNHCR, “What is a Refugee?” http://www.unrefugees.org/what-is-a-refugee/
The UN has noted that we are “witnessing the highest level of displacement on record.” More than 21 million refugees, half of them under 18, have fled their homes because of war, armed conflict, and violence. Three countries – Syria, Afghanistan, and Somalia – account for more than 50 percent of the total; nearly five million of the refugees are from Syria, alone. They are fleeing civil war, political instability and violence driven by the turmoil in the Middle East, made worse by the chaos caused by the U.S.-led invasion of Iraq.
UNHCR, “Figures at a Glance,” http://www.unhcr.org/figures-at-a-glance.html
For many people around the world, the United States represents the hope of freedom from political persecution and fear, an attractive environment of ethnic and religious pluralism, and the opportunity to have a better life.
According to Human Rights First, “The U.S. pledge to resettle at least ten thousand Syrian refugees this fiscal year amounts to only about two percent” of the nearly half million Syrian refugees needing resettlement.
Human Rights First, “Obama Administration Resettles 2,340 Syrian Refugees in July, Marking Progress Toward 2016 Goal,” http://www.humanrightsfirst.org/press-release/obama-administration-resettles-2340-syrianrefugees-july-marking-progress-toward-2016
Refugees seeking entry into the United States are thoroughly vetted in an extensive process that includes multiple background and biometric screenings by the National Counterterrorism Center/Intelligence Community, FBI, and the Department of Homeland Security, and State Department. These agencies check to see if “the individual is a security risk,” if she or he has “connections to known bad actors,” and if the individual has any “outstanding warrants/immigration or criminal violations.”
The fingerprints of applicants are checked against FBI, Homeland Security, and the Department of Defense databases. According to the Migration Policy Institute, “Of the 784,000 refugees resettled in the United States since September 11, 2001, three have been arrested for planning terrorist activities—two of whom were planning attacks outside the country.” Nothing is 100 percent but, given that the annual number of gun deaths in the United States is 33,636 people, refugees pose a negligible threat compared to armed citizens.
Rather than pose a risk to American citizens, refugees make significant contributions to the communities in which they settle and, overall, have settled well into American society according to a report by the Center for American Progress and the Fiscal Policy Institute that tracked the refugees settled in the United States over a ten-year period. Refugees are themselves fleeing violence and terrorism in their homelands. Many have additionally experienced trauma and deprivation during the perilous journeys they undertook leaving their homelands only to have subsequently faced hardships in refugee camps while they waited for their security clearances to settle in the United States.
The White House, “The Screening Process for Refugee Entry Into the United States,” https://www.whitehouse.gov/blog/2015/11/20/infographic-screening-process-refugee-entry-united-states
Migration Policy Institute, “Ten Facts About U.S. Refugee Resettlement,” https://www.migrationpolicy.org/sites/default/files/publications/Refugee-Facts-Oct-2015-FINAL.pdf
The most recent figure is for 2013, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, National Center for Health Statistics, http://www.cdc.gov/nchs/fastats/injury.html
Center for American Progress and Fiscal Policy Institute, “Refugee Integration into the United States,” https://cdn.americanprogress.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/06/15112912/refugeeintegration.pdf
No. The Federal Government provides limited assistance for refugee settlement, consisting of 90 – 120 days of rent, and utilities for 6 months. The resettlement program has been designed as a joint public-private partnership with private agencies, NGOs, and community groups filling gaps in resettlement costs. In Indiana. Exodus Refugee, an organization dedicated to refugee resettlement, offers support services to families for about 5 years, but they aspire to have families be self-sufficient in 3 months.
Exodus Refugee, “The Life Ahead,” https://exodusrefugee.org/
Refugees are required to apply for a green card within 1 year after their arrival and are eligible to become citizens 5 years later. Among other social and medical services, Exodus Refugee provides English language instruction and cultural orientation for their clients. These services help refugees adjust to life in the contemporary United States. At the same time, it is important to remember that the United States is culturally and ethnically diverse: over the years, immigrants have helped to vitalize American culture by introducing new cuisines (such as pizza and tacos), vibrant forms of music and dance (salsa and bhangra, for example), and poetry and literature (Julia Alvarez’s How the Garcia Girls Lost Their Accents, Chang-rae Lee’s Native Speaker, and Yaa Gyasi’s Homegoing, to name just a few). In time, new refugees will enrich American culture by introducing new forms of cuisine and artistic expression.