The Host/Mentor model offers refugees 4-6 months without rent and with a team of volunteers that can empower and guide a family through the steps to complete independence. The family "graduates" the model with credit established, a landlord reference, a bit of savings from the months of no rent paid and a job that is matched to their skills and that is only a few things which the model will help them accomplish. We could offer this to a 5 eager Syrian refugee families with this model and funding
Funding for refugees is very limited and agencies are overwhelmed with the amount of refugees coming into Massachusetts. The problem EOR has identified is that around the 3 month mark refugees are left in unsafe and vulnerable situations. They do not have English skills and the knowledge of what benefits they are allowed and how to access them. Our model empowers the refugees to a successful independence through a holistic approach which identifies and fulfills any gaps the family is lacking.
Refugees arriving in the U.S now and are ending up in unsafe and vulnerable living situations. This means that often times they engage in demeaning behaviors they normally would not do but they are desperate. The model will help solve the stereotypes that Americans have regarding refugees fleeing to the U.S. This model, tried and true with 5 families so far has integrated the refugees into the workforce, their communities and empowered them and allowed U.S.citizens to see refugees as a gift.
The long term impact is that our country benefits from the refugees becoming interwoven into the fabric of our society. Our communities are enriched by having the diversity of cultures and religions as opposed to being homogenized and exclusive.
This project has provided additional documentation in a PDF file (projdoc.pdf).
