A Better Life for Our Children
Many parents dream about their children becoming doctors and lawyers. For Said and Hodan, they had a simple desire for their children: access to education. When they discovered that this basic human right was inaccessible for Somali refugees living in Djibouti, they applied for resettlement to the U.S. With the help of RefugeeOne, Said and Hodan’s children are now succeeding in school and planning for bright futures.
CLICK HERE to read Said and Hodan’s story. St. Patrick's Day Raffle
Buy tickets for someone special and we will send them a Shamrock e-card on St. Patrick's Day informing them of your lucky gift. CLICK HERE FOR TICKETS Annual Report Fiscal Year 2013
Read RefugeeOne’s story for Fiscal Year 2013. Our story is about the people whom we serve, like Said, Hodan, and their children. Our story is about Thomas, a Burmese refugee who was persecuted for practicing his religion before being welcomed into the U.S. by RefugeeOne. Our story is about the 451 refugees who arrived in FY13 and the thousands of refugees we served during that time. And our story is about you, the donors and supporters who make our work possible.
CLICK HERE to read our story for Fiscal Year 2013. |
Lettuce Entertain You Enterprises Implements the Buddy System in Hiring Refugees
Lettuce Entertain You Enterprises, a dining group that manages dozens of restaurants in the Chicagoland area and beyond, has employed 22 of RefugeeOne's clients over the past year in locations like Beatrix, Scoozi! and Hub 51. Director of Recruiting Christine Hill talked to us about her relationship with RefugeeOne and the benefits of "The Buddy System."
How did you find out about RefugeeOne? My first exposure to RefugeeOne was at a career fair last February. We had heard that another restaurant group had found luck filling entry-level positions by hiring refugees. Hiring recent arrivals through a resettlement agency like RefugeeOne usually works as well as any other way to connect with hourly workers, but the commitment of employment manager Stacey and employment specialist Carmen makes the process run more smoothly. They’re good at preparing candidates by walking them through interviews and talking them through the specifics of what they’ll do at work. Not all of RefugeeOne’s clients are fluent in English. How do you deal with language barriers? A kitchen is a fast-paced place! We don’t want anyone to feel lost or overwhelmed, so we use the buddy system. We’ll hire a worker with low English proficiency and pair them with a buddy worker who speaks English. For instance, we hired one RefugeeOne client who had a great work ethic and a sweet way about him, though his English was limited. By chance, he ended up at [Lettuce Entertain You restaurant] Petterino’s with his roommate, a refugee with more advanced English skills. They’ve both been working there for six months and are efficient in their work-- everyone in the kitchen loves them. What inspires you about hiring refugees? I remember the heat wave during Ramadan this past July. During daylight, our Muslim coworkers had to fast from everything, even water, so we had to figure out what could we do to help them while they were in the kitchen. We made sure to give them plenty of breaks and support. It was great--we get to learn from each other! Through hiring refugees, I’ve learned so much about different cultures from around the world. Save the Date - Many Voices. One Vision. Gala
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