Bridge to Self Reliance 2000 refugees San Diego CA

"I don't know what to do.  My bank has sent me a letter.  I do not understand what it says.   Please can you help me?"  The diminutive Karen lady had arrived 3 months earlier with her children, from a camp in Thailand. She stood, looking up, her forehead furrowed with worry, as her words tumbled out.

"Let's see what it says," replied our caseworker, puzzled that the lady had a bank. It became clear that she did, and that the letter listed all the services for which she needed to make a monthly payment.

"Why did you open a bank account?" asked the outreach worker.

"My friends all said everyone in America needs a bank account, so I went to the bank.  A nice lady set up an account for me. She told me all the things I would need to make it safe."

Gently the case worker explained," You will need a bank account soon.  But first we have to help you finish your English classes and find a job. Let's go to the bank together.  We will ask the lady to open the account when you have a job."    After the two succeeded in closing the account without charges, the conversation was carried on over many days, to explore and explain the ways banks work and the importance of having your money (when you have some!) in an account in a safe place. 

The bank employee, like the Karen lady, had also been operating on some unfounded assumptions.  She had some clients who were refugees and who had steady income, but did not recognise that this new client was so recently arrived; was not understanding all the information she was being given; and did not yet have a current source of income that would require a bank account.  The complex concepts involved and the Karen lady's limited English vocabulary led to misunderstandings that took some careful unraveling.

We are very proud of the caring way that our outreach workers help our refugees come to understand concepts for which they have no prior experience on which to build, and very grateful to you, our donors, who make their work possible. Together we build the confidence and understanding of these new community members, who are so eager to do the right thing, and to become fully engaged.