Another meatpacking company imports foreign workers to replace U.S.-born employees. Forces community to accomodate them at its own expense.

(Ft. Morgan, Colorado)

Minnesota example can help immigrants

By DAN BARKER, Times Staff Writer

Monday, November 10, 2008


Immigrant integration workers returned from Minnesota this week with a more optimistic view of the future.

OneMorgan County Coordinator Brenda Zion said the Minnesota efforts to help immigrants assimilate to America hold out great hope for Morgan County.

She took a trip to greater Minneapolis and several agencies this week along with Karen Liston, an English as a Second Language teacher with the Fort Morgan School District, and others from Greeley, Zion said.

It may seem surprising, but Minneapolis is a pretty international city, she said.

It began dealing with an influx of Hispanics and Somalis many years ago, which has given it experience to share with other cities, Zion said.

For instance, Zion's first stop was at the Winnetka Learning Center, which offers services like basic adult education combined with children's preschool education, she said.

This program not only helps adults to find jobs, but often the children do not need English as a Second Language courses when they go to school, Zion said.

"They have a huge waiting list," she said, because the program is so successful.

An important component of this program is the home-school liaison, who is on call as needed to act as an interpreter not only of language but of customs for the large population the center serves, Zion said.

A full-time school liaison would be a big advantage for Morgan County, she said.

"I don't think it's impossible," Zion said.

She also visited the Hennepin County Office of Multi-Cultural Services, she said. While this is tied in with the human services department, it is an independent program.

It takes the next step beyond human services, helping immigrants to access all kinds of services and navigate the government systems, Zion said. For example, a multi-cultural employee might take one person physically to each agency and help that person to sign up.

Morgan County might be able to use some integration navigators who do a similar kind of thing, by showing refugees and other immigrants around town to find out how to use the post office, banks and stores or where to pay utility bills, she said.

That immigrant is then in a position to help another immigrant and the knowledge spreads, Zion said.

Having that kind of system would prepare the county for any kind of immigrants, she said.

A school program Zion visited showed how to build an English as a Second Language program which can help students no matter what their language happens to be, she said.

That program not only helps students to learn English, but teachers make sure to help them bridge the language gap in other subjects like mathematics, Zion said.

Latin Communities United in Service is successful in helping immigrants search for work in cooperation with human services, also offering English and citizenship classes, she said.

While this program began as a project for Hispanics, all immigrants face the same kinds of challenges, so a lot of Somalis use it, Zion said.

"They refuse (the free) service to nobody," she said.

The Confederation of the Somali Community acts as a community center and works to help settle disputes that arise when cultures clash, Zion said.

It offers classes in survival skills such as sewing and has a health clinic, she said.

Seeing all of these programs boosted the enthusiasm of Zion and the other travelers in their ability to bring multiple cultures together, she said.

Many of the issues such as Islamic prayer schedules vs. workplace needs are a thing of the past in Minneapolis, Zion said.

When people begin working together, signs of progress start appearing — like the Somali mall, she said.

The community mall is not like a regular American mall, Zion said. It is more like a Mexican market in a building, but it is a thriving business area for many Somalis.

People can shop in the many clothing, book or religious stores, or take a break to buy lunch to eat in a communal dining area, she said.

At times it can feel like the shopper is traveling to another country, Zion said.

Minneapolis also has its global market in the old Sears Tower, she said.

This market has stores of all kinds reflecting many ethnicities, Zion said, and it speaks to how the city feels about its international flavor.

Minneapolis is a place which sees the opportunities and potential immigrants bring, she said.

At the same time, the trip accentuated what Morgan County already has for immigrants, Zion said.

One thing the county has is the program Morgan Community College offers at Cargill Meat Solutions to teach English and other skills, she said.

Many communities do not even have that when they begin to deal with immigration issues, Zion said.

The program at Cargill is a place for people to get to know each other, which makes it easier to handle cultural differences, she said.

— Contact Dan Barker at @fmtimes.com.business

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