State-sponsored friendship: the city using flatshares for refugee integration

Refugee resettlement is arguably one of our country’s noblest examples of foreign policy. It gives forcibly displaced people from around the world a chance to escape danger and rebuild a life for themselves in a safe environment.

In a pilot program in a Canadian city, the working poor were given monthly cash supplements to their income. The recipients did not stop working and were able to access opportunities to make a better living long term.

In Prince George's County School system, two schools have offered international schools, which have a different curriculum for immigrants new to the USA. This has caused complaints and difficulties with the other students, the after school band program has helped bring the two groups together to socialize and form friendships.

In many parts of the United States, people struggle with economic mobility and achieving the American Dream. Salt Lake City’s rate of economic mobility is at the highest in the country. An investigative journalist explores the Mormon-influenced structure of charitable giving and various social factors that have created this socio-economic anomaly, and discovers that compassionate conservatism and some government welfare programs have contributed to the state being a unique case.

LGBTQ asylum seekers face a unique set of problems coming to the United States, often from places where gender expression and sexuality are strictly regulated. Four organizations across the US, Mexico, and Canada are filling this unique niche. For example, AsylumConnect created an app of resources on how to apply for asylum and a catalogue of LGBTQ-friendly services and organizations in the US for them to learn about. All four aim to validate LGBTQ asylum seekers and keep them safe.

A German organization called Uber den Tellerrand brings together refugees and locals for a meal handmade by those who migrated from Syria and Iraq. The meal brings people together over a delicious meal, offers authentic food from those countries, and allows those cooking to feel like they are giving back to the community. Another initiative to aid the resettlement process is a program called Start with a Friend (SWAF) pairs locals and newcomers to develop friendships and help refugees better learn the language along the way.

Sesame Workshop and the International Rescue Committee created a special show for displaced Syrian children conducted entirely in Arabic. The show teaches children lessons like counting and the alphabet, but it also teaches them emotional coping skills, which is very important for refugee children. The show is accompanied by trained early childhood development facilitators who visit homes and interact with the children playing games or reading books.

Stockton, California is piloting a closely-watched experiment with Universal Basic Income, providing a $500 allowance each month for 18 months to 125 low-income families. Preliminary data captured during the first 5 months of the pilot show how recipients spend the money, but participants report benefits beyond the financial, like lower stress levels.

To continue serving tens of thousands of refugees stuck at the U.S.-Mexico border during the pandemic, shelters have collaborated on an improvised system to deliver food aid, emergency hotel accommodations, and legal aid via videoconferencing. The border buildup of recent months, a product of the “Remain in Mexico” asylum policy, became a far more complicated humanitarian mission thanks to COVID-19. After completely shutting down, some shelters are cautiously reopening with new protocols to serve a more socially-distanced clientele.

Child Friendly Spaces in Kilis, a city with a huge Syrian refugee population, and UNICEF’s art program in Jordan’s refugee camp, try to address the mental health of refugees, who are often dealing with great trauma. “If we think these refugees only need food, clothes or medicine, we are looking at them like animals.” Organizers that run these programs say these programs are critical and needed to address the psychological effects of war.