|
|
Dear Friends and
Colleagues,
At the Welcoming Center
for New Pennsylvanians, we believe that
work is the best and most efficient way
for immigrants to participate in American
society. That's why most of the
things we do at the Welcoming Center revolve
around jobs.
We advocate the
importance of survival jobs to so that immigrants
work within the formal workforce instead of cash
or under-the-table jobs. We stress workplace
English skills for our limited English proficient
jobseekers so that their journey to learning
English will also bring them closer to earning
wages and forming a career.
We
support immigrant entrepreneurs as they build
enterprises in Philadelphia neighborhoods.
These businesses create more jobs, often for
those born in the region. And we work side by side
with immigrants who are trying to rebuild the
careers they left in their home countries.
It seems that our jobseekers agree
with our emphasis on work. Recently, a man
from North Africa arrived at our office just days
after landing in the U.S. A friend from his home
country had told him, "When you get to
Philadelphia, go to the Welcoming Center.
They will find you a job."
We
are deeply grateful for your support as we do just
that.
Anne O'Callaghan
Executive Director
| |
Immigration in
the Media
 As
Philadelphia analyzes its economy, crime,
education, and population issues, immigration is
often a subject that emerges. Recently,
major Philadelphia-area radio programs,
newspapers, and magazines have taken an in-depth
look at how immigration affects our
region. KYW Newsradio
1060's special report Stirring
the Delaware Valley's Melting Pot
addressed several issues relating to
immigrants. In one of several 70-second
radio segments, immigration lawyer (and Welcoming
Center board member) Tom Griffin talks about
immigrants as targets of crime and how crimes are
often not being reported because of fears of
getting deported. In another segment,
Welcoming Center staff member Amanda
Bergson-Shilcock explains where our region's
immigrants hail from and how many immigrants
Philadelphia attracts in relation to other major
cities. Go to the KYW
website to listen to the
brief segments. One of
Philadelphia's new publications,
two.one.five magazine, recently
published a piece on immigrants in
Philadelphia. The article profiled local
immigrants and included comments from researchers,
public officials, and representatives from
nonprofit organizations, including Regan Cooper of
the Pennsylvania Immigration and Citizenship
Coalition. The article highlights Mayor
Nutter's commitment to increase the city's
population by 75,000, an effort that will include
proactively embracing the presence of immigrants
and helping them integrate into the community.
Two Welcoming Center jobseekers were
recently featured in a Philadelphia
Weekly cover story, Lost in
America. The subtitle notes: "Many
highly educated Philadelphians from other
countries are stuck working dead-end jobs for
minimal pay. Their stories may surprise
you." This issue of underemployment
has long been on the mind of Welcoming Center
staff. We are happy to see that some of the
major media outlets in our region are also paying
attention to these issues and raising awareness
about how we can address and embrace the growing
immigrant presence
here. |
Spotlight On:
Immigrant business owner
Amarilis LaFontaine
 When
you enter Amarilis LaFontaine's Frankford health
clinic, you are surrounded by warmth and color. It
may be just a block from the El, but every inch of
Best
Behavioral Health shines with the love and
care that she and her staff have devoted to it.
Consultation rooms for youth clients have toys and
games, and the multilingual reception staff greet
arrivals with a friendly smile. Best
Behavioral's clinical director, Yan Huo, shares
the agency's commitment to high-quality
multicultural counseling services. Huo's
professional background includes training in
immigration, complex trauma and art psychotherapy.
In addition to Huo, who is fluent in Mandarin and
Cantonese, the staff
includes speakers of Khmer, Korean, Portuguese,
Russian, and Spanish. "We were
impressed by how hard they work to serve people of
all backgrounds," says Welcoming Center staff
member Rosara Castillo-Beshore, who visited the
facility recently. "When you need mental health
care, it is so important to be taken care of by
professionals who can speak your
language." Clinic founder LaFontaine
knows firsthand how challenging the immigrant
adjustment process can be. When she came from the
Dominican Republic 12 years ago, she was shocked
at how difficult it was to transfer her
professional credentials to the US system. Her
experience has led her to mentor other immigrants
who are following the same path, offering them
factual information and recommendations for how to
ensure that their psychiatric and psychological
training can be certified in the
U.S. |
| New Resources for
Entrepreneurs
If I sell take-out food, do
I need to follow special zoning
requirements?
How can I learn more about plant
care for my flower shop?
Why should my coffee shop
consider providing wireless internet
access?
Starting a small
business in Philadelphia is a daunting task for
any entrepreneur. The health department
regulations, the zoning requirements, and business
licensing process are complicated. Completing the
steps out of order may cause long delays.
For an immigrant who is unfamiliar with the US
business culture or has limited English skills,
opening a small business can be especially
challenging.
The
Welcoming Center has been helping immigrant
entrepreneurs start small businesses for more than
five years. This year, we decided
to expand and update our previously developed "How to
Start a Deli or Grocery in Philadelphia"
brochure. We called city agencies and
business support organizations to get their most
recent contact information and list of
services. We conducted a needs assessment in
West Philadelphia to determine the gaps in small
business opportunities. From here, we
met with small business owners throughout
Philadelphia to see how they started businesses
and what barriers they faced. We also worked
closely with Shinjoo Cho, of the City of
Philadelphia's Commerce Department, to more fully
understand the process of opening a business and
to identify the specific issues that immigrant
entrepreneurs face.
As a result of
this work, we developed two more guides, "How to
Start a Plant or Flower Shop" and "How to
Start a Coffee Shop." Now,
all three of our guides are available
online. We welcome your input regarding
these materials and any ideas you have to enhance
them.
Please note:
Because every business is unique and regulations
are subject to change, these pamphlets are
intended for use as a guideline, not a
comprehensive resource. It is important that you
work with appropriate city departments to make
sure you are in compliance with current
procedures. We hope they will be
useful!
|
New Staff Members at the Welcoming
Center
 We
warmly welcome three new staff members,
Amy Cheung, Natalie Montella, and Janet
Boyle. Amy (pictured at
right) is a program coordinator. Among other
duties, she works closely with our Vocational
Literacy program instructors and jobseekers. Amy
first joined the Welcoming Center last year as a
mentor with Project Bridging Cultures, and we are
excited that she has now come on board as a
full-time staff member. Natalie is
the advocate and case manager for the Welcoming
Center's Vocational Literacy program.
She collaborates with other staff
members to ensure that jobseekers have the
support they need to focus on finding
work. We are especially grateful for
Natalie's language skills, which have already been
put to extensive use. Janet joins us
as our new executive assistant and office manager.
She will manage the executive director's schedule
and workload, as well as the day-to-day operations
of the office. We look forward to benefiting
from her experience and
skills. Welcome to all our new
employees! |
| Upcoming Events:
Corporate Pro Bono
Day
 Philadelphia Law Works, in
conjunction with The Enterprise Center, is
providing a free legal clinic, Corporate Pro Bono
Day, to emerging and established businesses at The
Enterprise Center on September 23, 2008. Download
the Flyer and Press Release. Small
business owners have the opportunity to receive
free legal consultation by some of the top
corporate lawyers in Greater Philadelphia. Your
business legal issues or needs may include
taxation, business formation, ownership,
licensing, real estate, labor & employment,
intellectual property, or general business
grievances. Corporate Pro Bono Day takes
place from 10:30am to 12:30pm on Tuesday,
September 23rd. You must preregister
by September 18th to attend. There
will be no walk-ins accepted. Consultations with
attorneys are from 11:00am - 12:30pm. Contact
Martin Costello at (215)523-9562 or via e-mail at
lawworks@phillyvip.org to
pre-register for Corporate Pro Bono Day or for
general
questions. |
Resource Corner
No
research this month! Instead, we're spotlighting a
couple of resources that may come in handy.
How to Register for
School
It's time to register for school - and all
over Pennsylvania, immigrant families have
questions about the process. Every week,
we at the Welcoming Center get phone calls from
parents and school personnel who are confused
about what papers are required. Does a child need
a Social Security card to go to school? (No.) Does
a family have to show proof of their address to
register? (Yes.) This year, we teamed up
with legal experts at the Education
Law Center to produce a simple flyer listing
the documents that are needed to register a child
for school. The flyer is now available in English and Spanish, with other translations in
the works. Note: This is a double-sided
flyer. Please print both
pages!Understanding the Immigration
MazeMost of us who work in
immigration are used to hearing questions such as,
"Why can't immigrants just wait in line?" Like
other organizations, the Welcoming Center supports
comprehensive immigration reform as a way to
ensure that laws are clear, fair, and
straightforward. In the meantime, two
organizations have created resources that
help illustrate the complexity of the immigration
system - and why "just waiting in line"
isn't as easy as it sounds. First,
the Reason Foundation assembled this visual
chart (pdf) of the immigration process. It's
hard to believe, but this is actually a simplified
version. Second, the American
Immigration Law Foundation has published a 2-page
brief explaining who qualifies to wait in line -
and who doesn't. Check it out here. |
|
Donate Now!
Did something in this newsletter intrigue or
inspire you? Please make a donation. The
Welcoming Center is able to provide services
through the generous financial support of
foundations, corporations, public agencies, and
individuals. We are a 501(c)3 organization
and a member of United Way. Our United Way donor
option number is 14726. We appreciate
donations at all levels. You can also make a
donation via credit card through our
website. The official
registration and financial information of
Welcoming Center for New Pennsylvanians may be
obtained from the Pennsylvania Department of State
by calling toll free, within Pennsylvania, 1 (800)
732-0999. Registration does not imply
endorsement. | |
|
| |
