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The
metropolitan region welcomes new arrivals everyday. The 2000 Census
should confirm what many people think—approximately 100,000 refugees
and immigrants from 90 countries call St. Louis home. Their entry
into the Gateway to the West started with exoduses from Bosnia,
Somalia, Vietnam, Iraq, Mexico and Russia among other faraway
lands. The largest group, those of Latin American and Spanish
descent, number 25,000. The next group, all located here within
the last six years, are the Bosnian’s at 20,000.
Many new Americans
don’t speak English, can’t practice their chosen professions until
licensing snafus are cleared up or new tests taken, and may not
know how to drive—all combining to make the transition to a new
culture and new work world difficult. One of the first organizations
a new American may meet is LAMP, or Language Access Metro Project.
Its original goal, says Lejla Sussic, language team leader, was
to help non-anglophones access health care by providing interpreters.
LAMP offers interpreters to health institutions so patients can
be understood and in turn understand health care professionals’
diagnosis and medical advice, Sussic states.
LAMP teaches bilingual speakers medical terminology to assist
in the interpretation process. The upside of this training is
that some LAMP clients now work in the medical field and offer
translation when needed. Interpreters also work in numerous social
service agencies.
We’re now expanding our services to encompass schools that are
facing a growing number of ESL [English as a Second Language]
students in the classroom,” she states. LAMP translators also
work with parents who haven’t learned English and need to speak
with teachers regarding their children’s education.
In addition to providing interpreters to medical facilities and
schools, LAMP will soon offer courses in English and one-on-one
tutoring for English speaking people who want to learn another
language.
Once immigration papers are resolved, doctors visited and homes
secured, the next step for new Americans is finding a job. The
International Institute of St. Louis helped more than 1,200 immigrants
and refugees find work last year, says Tatjana Mandrapa, a job
development coordinator and a Bosnian refugee herself. Mandrapa
studied world literature before coming to St. Louis three years
ago. “I never thought I’d do this for a living, but I love it,”
she says.
The International Institute assists more than 300 area businesses
in its job placement efforts. “We work with people who are educated
and speak English and we work with those who have fewer skills
and speak no English,” Mandrapa states. “Most of our clients are
good workers and come from Nigeria, Somalia, Iraq, Bosnia and
Vietnam,” she says.
For those clients who had a profession in their homeland, the
International Institute works to help them get back into their
original fields by securing licensing, helping them study for
medical exams and finding employers. “We have people who were
doctors and nurses in Bosnia and are now back in their fields,”
she states with pride. Mandrapa says with most new Americans needing
to learn how to drive, overcome licensing headaches and improve
their English, it takes six to 12 months before they can work
again in their fields of expertise. One example is of a Bosnian
refugee who owned his own plumbing business for 15 years and the
International Institute is trying to cut through the red tape,
so he can get a license and practice his profession here.
For refugees and immigrants who have fewer skills, Mandrapa says
with the good economy and the shortage of workers, many companies
will train them to work as press operators, on assembly lines,
as machine operators and as restaurant workers. But a big barrier
to finding jobs is transportation. “Some of the bus routes don’t
go to a lot of the companies, say in Chesterfield or Fenton, so
once they learn to drive it’s much easier for us to find them
jobs,” she notes.
A number of new Americans want to start their own businesses and
that is where the International Institute’s Micro Enterprise project
kicks in. “We help people, who’ve been in this country less than
five years, start small businesses with less than five employees
and need less than $25,000 in startup money,” states Jan Huneke,
program manager. Micro Enterprise opened its doors in 1998 and
has helped a dozen new businesses start in the region. The enterprises
include massage therapy, photography, used car sales and cleaning
businesses.
The Micro Enterprise project also provides assistance once the
business is underway and helps it grow. “We try to use outside
support with volunteers serving as mentors in a specific business
area such as restaurants,” Huneke notes.
If the new American doesn’t meet the Micro Enterprise criteria
or need a bigger loan, they can turn to Mitch Baden, executive
vice president at Southside National Bank. “We’re a member of
the St. Louis Minority Business Council, and we work closely with
the Council to provide loans through several different programs,”
he says. “And we’re one of the few banks that has a diversity
coordinator position. He not only works to provide loans to ethnic
businesses, but he works to provide vendor opportunities.”
Baden notes that the bank also has hired a personal banker from
Bosnia. “This gives us some stability in the marketplace,” he
says. In addition to the several commercial loan programs the
bank offers, it also works closely with new arrivals in helping
them secure home loans. “We offer a full gamut of products to
the immigrant population—they’re moving in around our main bank
and are our new customers,” Baden states.
For more information or to volunteer, call the International Institute
at 314/773-9090 or LAMP at 314/534-6477.
Liese L. Hutchison is an assistant professor in the department
of communication at Saint Louis University and a free-lance writer.
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