By: Rach Angard, Community Impact Coordinator, Next50
It is incredibly daunting and incredibly brave to leave one’s home country for another. The language is different, the norms are different, the expectations and the doctors and the stores are all different. People will leave behind everything they know and everyone they love to immigrate to a new country, particularly to the United States. Even after decades, it is easy to feel lonely and alone. This is especially true for the older adults who have recently or previously immigrated to this country. Next50 is proud to support the work of three immigrant- and refugee-serving organizations who provide their clients with access to three necessities: connection, information, and employment.
Denver has one of the largest Ethiopian populations in the country, with most of the community coming from a Tigrayan background. In the 1970s and 80s, Tigrayans left the refugee camps they were forced into at the hand of the Ethiopian government’s targeted famine and genocide. Many of them resettled right here in Colorado. The Tigray-Ethiopian Community Center (TCC) was founded in the 1990s to support people who felt lost or disconnected after their move to a whole new country. For the past 30 years, this organization has bridged the generational divide and created a way to honor their elders.
“We are so much bigger than the stories that have been said about us.” This is the guiding principle behind Millete Birhanemaskel’s philosophy as the Executive Director at TCC. This is the notion that drives one of their most successful programs, Tarek Time.
Tarek Time was created as a place to honor and listen to the stories of Tigrayan elders. They have shared everything from the commonplace tales of growing up in Ethiopia to the extraordinary task of mapping the entire terrain of the state of Tigray. These stories empower older adults and build strong connections with younger participants.
Many of the teenagers and younger adults at TCC are the children of immigrants, and they often feel disconnected from their identity – not quite Tigrayan, not quite American. Engaging with the stories of their elders allows these younger people to deeply connect with their identity. And these stories allow older members to leave a legacy within their community.
The Bay Area in California is home to many Latino and Mayan immigrants, a population that is often underserved and underinformed. This is why Madeleine Bair, the Founding Director of El Timpano, has turned the traditional model of journalism on its head. El Timpano is a community-based & -operated organization, inviting their community to inform their storytelling and resource sharing. For people who have immigrated from countries under “oppressive regimes where simply…speaking to a reporter could put them in a vulnerable or threatening position,” this philosophy of trust and response is a revolution.
While El Timpano focuses much of their efforts on reporting, their text messaging platform is an innovative resource for their community, primarily their older adults. This service focuses on older immigrants who do not speak English. While these community members don’t always have access to the internet, they do have access to a cell phone. This is how El Timpano decided that text messages are the most reliable way of sharing pertinent information and resources with the older adults who need them most.
Every week, the organization sends texts to subscribers with news and information on issues that impact them. If there is a change to immigration policy that needs attention, El Timpano texts them. If there is a food bank happening at a nearby church, El Timpano texts them. If a subscriber has a question about where to access low-cost healthcare, El Timpano texts them back.
This low-barrier access to news and to resources is changing aging for older adults who have immigrated to this country. Knowing they have El Timpano on their side can ease even a little bit of the uncertainty and fear in an ever-changing political environment.
Arizona Healthcare Association
Immigrants and refugees from all over the world are a major part of this country’s past and present, and Arizona is no exception to this story. People from countries as widespread as Ukraine, Democratic Republic of Congo, Kenya, Syria, and Afghanistan have chosen to make Phoenix their new home. Very often these individuals and families arrive with very little and have left behind high paying jobs and valuable degrees. The Arizona Healthcare Association (AHCA) noticed an influx of refugees with medical degrees while experiencing a dearth of nurses working in Phoenix-based aging services. This is when Jeff Barrett, Director of Workforce Development, reached out to the Office of Refugee Services.
The AHCA runs four cohorts of CNAs (certified nursing assistant) to train recently relocated refugees on working in senior living facilities. ACHA provides English as a Second Language (ESL) course and the nursing curriculum, while Avista Senior Living provides the internship.
This partnership has proven to be incredibly powerful for the people in the program and the older adults they serve. Recently relocated refugees are now securing well-paying jobs that align with their professional backgrounds – positions that restore their careers and offer clear pathways for advancement in their new community. Older adults now have consistent care from CNAs that they are growing to feel more and more familiar with. The AHCA has taken care in these cross-cultural connections, often facilitating conversations, meals, and trainings to bridge the gap between older Americans and new Americans.
These organizations are but three examples of the hundreds across this country working to make connection, information, and employment easier for people doing one of the hardest things they can do: leaving their homes for a new one. Having spent decades and decades in one country, older adults are incredibly impacted by such a move. Next50 is proud to support partners changing aging for immigrant communities like the Tigray-Ethiopian Community Center, El Timpano, and the Arizona Healthcare Association in their missions to create a better life for aging Americans – both older and new.
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