During a year where most lines of work and many classrooms became virtual, some populations in northeast Indiana did not have access to technology or the internet.
Due to financial constraints, language barriers and a lack of support from the U.S. government, many immigrant and refugee populations in the region have not had the opportunity to access technology and other necessary resources during the COVID-19 pandemic.
In February 2021, the city of Fort Wayne distributed $398,000 to seven non-profit organizations to provide support and assistance with the COVID-19 pandemic. The organizations include Wellspring, YMCA of Greater Fort Wayne, Healthier Moms & Babies, The League for the Blind & Disabled, Health Visions Midwest, Community Transportation Network and Amani Family Services.
With financial assistance from the Fort Wayne community, Amani Family Services, a private nonprofit organization in Fort Wayne which supports multicultural families and individuals, has been working hard to ensure these populations receive the support they need.
Amani received the second highest grant, at $106,811, which will be allocated toward helping around 300 immigrants and refugees in northeast Indiana. The organization plans to do this through hiring a case manager who will help with outreach and educational activities, and will provide 25 hours of mental health support therapy.
Substance Use Support Program Manager Josefina Cervantes said this grant will be of great help for Amani and the immigrant and refugee community, even though it will not be enough to achieve all of their goals.
“This grant is very, very important, because now with the pandemic, the clients we serve, many of them, they don't have the resources, or they don't receive the resources the government is giving to other people,” Cervantes said. “Here in Amani… we try to make a safe space for every single person who needs services. So with that money, I don't think it's enough, but at least I can see we can support more people who need services.”
According to a report conducted by the New American Economy, in 2016, there were 28,228 immigrants in northeast Indiana, and of that number, 4,823 were likely refugees. Amani supports around 2,000 of these individuals each year.
Cervantes said that many of her clients used to work in restaurants which closed this year due to the pandemic, resulting in them losing their jobs. In addition, some immigrants in the region do not have much knowledge about modern technology and proper access to the internet, making it very difficult for them to access necessary resources and for their children to participate in virtual school.
The lack of access to technology resulted in Cervantes having to conduct many of her client sessions over the phone instead of via video chat, which led to new challenges arising regarding client confidentiality.
“I try to just like lecture and be very mindful, because I don't know who's present during the [phone] sessions. So I can give an example. You know, in my group, I like to teach about domestic violence, so even those kinds of topics I have to be careful how we present it and how I say it.”
This past year more than ever, Amani’s needs have expanded. According to Amani CEO Irene Paxia, the immigrant and refugee populations often have not received necessary support from the government, and in many ways, the organization consequently serves as the reference point for these families during the pandemic.
“Some people may forget, but immigrants and refugees are also the same people that often don't receive stimulus checks or they're not eligible sometimes for unemployment benefits, sick days, other privileges or rights that the general populations may have,” Paxia said. “Sometimes, they don't have enough history in this country to be accessing those services, so we have to be very collaborative in responding to the emergency that our community faced last year.”
One way Amani believes the government and other organizations can help these populations is by recognizing the large language barrier. Cervantes and Paxia said that it has been difficult for their clients to keep up with the news and read necessary documents, because they are often only available in English, which is not much help for those mainly speaking and reading in Spanish, Burmese and Arabic.
“Unfortunately, as a system, our community was not ready to face the pandemic and provide services for non English speakers overall,” Paxia said. “I can give you many examples where, you know, government entities put resources online, but the same individuals that don't speak English, don't necessarily have easy access or know where to go for different websites.”
Even if resources are available in different languages, immigrant and refugee populations at times are unable to access those resources. So having a PDF in Arabic, for instance, is still not meaningful unless the person who speaks Arabic can actually access that PDF, Paxia said.
“The time when you are faced with a pandemic, or a disaster emergency in general, is usually not the best time to build those system processes,” Paxia said. “So I think we can take what has happened as an opportunity to think ahead as ways to share information, especially with the underserved in our community.”
Paxia recognized that 2020 was a difficult year for everyone, and it was especially difficult to witness how hard the families they support were impacted by the pandemic.
“On one end, it renewed everybody's passion for our mission and what we do, but at the other end, it was really hard and hard to knock on doors – we tried very hard to build this collaboration,” Paxia said. “And so what I realized is that there's still a lot of work that needs to be done to be more inclusive as a community.”
In order to provide the immigrant and refugee populations in Northeast Indiana with the support they need, Paxia said the whole region must work together. Receiving funding from Fort Wayne was an important step in achieving this goal.
“Amani alone cannot do this,” Paxia said. “Even though we are dedicated to our diverse community of immigrants and refugees, we don't own the issue of being a welcoming community. It is to be everybody's desire to build the infrastructure. And so that's why ultimately, we work through collaboration, and this funding will really make a big difference for us.”
Parnia Mazhar is a student at the University of Michigan and an intern at WBOI.