Post on 02-Jul-2015
description
Opening Government for Immigrants
Presenter: Homa Naficy Chief Adult Learning Officer
Phone: 860.695.6334Email: naficy@hplct.org
www.hplct.org
Opening Government for Immigrants
• Facilitating access to government
services
• Brokering civic engagement
opportunities
Literacy and Access Axis
Literacies
Literacy and Access Axis
Access
Literacy and Access Axis
• VITA Tax Volunteers
• Access Health CT
• SNAP (Food stamps)• Section 8
• Immigration services
Government service facilitation
Literacy and Access Tools
Literacy and Access Axis
Value added tools
Civic Engagement Axis
Immigrant Civic Engagement
Immigration Trends
• Arriving from lesser known locations
• Settling in newer destinations
• Increase in the proportional share of
immigrants in the general population.
Civic Engagement Axis
Building Social Relationships & Bridging Social capital
An Inclusive approach to Immigrant Civic Engagement within Libraries: A Demonstration Project
Building Meaningful Connections
• Networks of trusting relationships, both with people
from like and unlike backgrounds, create one of civic
participations most powerful contributions to immigrant
integration
• People who know each other through shared work are
far less capable of stereotyping, and characterizing
people as ‘other’.
Civic Engagement Axis
Strategies
• Build coalitions among key stakeholders.
• Recruit and train volunteers to serve as Cultural
Navigators.
• Community Conversations
• Communications Campaign
Civic Engagement Axis
Community Engaged
• Commission on Immigrant and Refugee Affairs
• Neighborhood Welcoming Committee
Feasibility study for a We Belong Here Center
• We Belong Here Hartford
Civic Engagement Axis
We Belong Here
http://hpl.discovervideo.com/show/watch?id=e478f962&t=1
These initiatives have been possible
through funding from IMLS and USCIS.