[GLC] An appeal from one NYC adult ed program

[Paul Jurmo]

Dear Supporters of Adult Ed in NYC,

I recently got an e-mail (below) from Emily Fader at the International
Rescue Committee.  IRC's NYC office serves hundreds of newly-arrived
refugees every year, providing adult basic education, job-placement, and
other services.  Emily is a VISTA Volunteer who -- with the help of students
from NYU -- has in the past year created a basic skills program from
scratch. 

Tutoring sessions are held in a tiny room also used to store donated
clothing items.  Volunteer tutors help participants develop basic English
language skills needed to navigate life in a new country and big city.
Participants come from Sudan, Sierra Leone, Burma, Congo, and other places
torn by war.  (Emily and IRC volunteer Carrie Baum spoke about the IRC at
GLC's Leadership Institute on April 9th.)

In her note below, Emily is asking for financial support for IRC to help
fill the gap which will be created when her VISTA tour wraps up in August.
I am posting this message here for three reasons:

1.  In case any of you can afford to make a donation to IRC.

2. to generally inform you about IRC, which doesn't rely on public funding
for its adult education services.

3. to demonstrate the great and important work that adult education programs
in NYC do and the limited resources they operate on.

Paul Jurmo

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From: "Emily Feder" <emilyf at theirc.org>
Date: Fri, 29 Apr 2005 15:07:03 -0400
To: <pjurmo at comcast.net>
Subject: The IRC New York VISTA Program


April 29, 2005 

Dear Paul, 

As you may know, I will be leaving IRC in August when my Americorps VISTA
Volunteer grant terminates.  I am writing to friends of IRC to request your
help in keeping the Americorps program alive at IRC.  Two of the five staff
members positions in our office are funded by Americorps: my position, the
Community and Resource Development Manager, and the Youth Program
Coordinator.  In order to keep my position, IRC will need to raise $10,000.

I started at IRC in 2003 after a four-month period without any fundraising
or volunteer program.  I revived the IRC newsletter, started an IRC digital
photo library, and created an identity for our office through press releases
and special events.  I designed the adult volunteer and family mentor
programs and fostered connections in the New York community to find
volunteers.  I solicited in-kind donations for refugees, raising over
$200,000 a year in donations of essential clothing and furniture for our
clients.  This year, I worked with an IRC Advisory Committee member to
establish a Literacy for Life Program, which meets the literacy and English
as a Second Language needs of IRC refugees.  I decided to stay a second year
after seeing how much more I could develop IRC¹s resource and community
development programs.

The refugees I work with at IRC are considered ³high risk² by the US
Government.  Most come from refugee camps, where they have lived for years.
Many have not been back to their homes (usually small towns or farming
communities) for over ten years.  Many refugees are single women with young
children, older adolescents who are expected to support themselves through
employment, and grandparents who must take responsibility for their young
grandchildren.  With no family or friends in New York and low literacy and
English skills, refugees need assistance when they first arrive-IRC is the
only organization providing that assistance to this group of refugees.

But IRC can only aid refugees with the support of a complete staff,
including the two staff positions currently funded by the Americorps
program.  Whether you are able to give $5 or $500, I hope you will consider
assisting IRC New York continue the programs I have started.  If you are
able to send a donation, please mail a check payable to ³IRC New York² to:

Emily Feder 
IRC New York Resettlement
122 East 42nd Street, 12th Floor
New York, New York 10168-1289

Thank you for your continuing work helping refugees resettle in New York
City.  Please feel free to contact me should you have any questions about
IRC or would like to know more about our office¹s campaign to keep the
Americorps VISTA Program.

Best, 
Emily 

Emily Feder 
Community and Resource Development Manager
New York Resettlement Office
International Rescue Committee
emilyf at theIRC.org 
www.theIRC.org/NewYork

 
ABOUT THE IRC: IRC was founded in 1933 (at the request of Albert Einstein),
IRC is a world leader for people affected by violent conflict and
oppression.  At work in 25 countries, IRC directly aids over 10 million
war-affected refugees each year.  Locally, the International Rescue
Committee¹s New York Resettlement Office gives refugees, asylees, and
victims of trafficking the resources they require to attain
self-sufficiency.  Dedicated staff and volunteers provide refugees with
housing, cash assistance, job and language development activities, and other
social services.  We greet newly arrived refugees at the airport, take them
on shopping excursions, give lessons on food preparation and nutrition, and
explain the concept of banks and paying bills.  We also organize literacy
classes for refugees of all skill levels.  IRC New York also helps refugees
apply for green cards and U.S. citizenship and offers classes to help
prepare refugees for citizenship interviews.  Our Refugee Youth Program
serves refugee and immigrant youth at locations throughout the Bronx,
Brooklyn, and Manhattan with afterschool and summer programming, as well as
school placement assistance, mentoring, and other innovative projects. (You
can find out more about IRC on their website, www.theirc.org/newyork
<http://www.theirc.org/newyork>).


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