ARISE

Our Refugee Advocate made it to Ted Talk! She talks about her life and loss in such a way that you will have goosebumps! Chantale Zuzi came to the US as an unaccompanied refugee minor and despite all odds made an incredible progress-- finished her high school and joined Wellesley College and now has her own nonprofit to work for the best interest of refugee girls like herself. She was at the very first cohort of ARISE. She is a reminder that removing barriers and providing the right services can help refugee reach their full potential. Purna Neupane Pabitra Neupane Mukesh Chandra Baral Richard Chu ARISE Lindsay Sabadosa, State Representative, 1st Hampshire District

Dear fellow refugees, here's how I found resilience Chantale Zuzi Leader is one of the millions of displaced people around the world. In a deeply moving talk, she reflects on losing her family, home and sense of safety — only to break through and ultimately find community and hope. It's an astounding story of resilience that speaks to today's refug...

Very fruitful intraction with Liberian community President Ambrose Toekulah , Kongoli community President Bove, Central African Community President Patrice Djinaye at ARISE office with President of ARISE Purna Neupane and Executive Director Mukesh Chandra Baral on how to break the silos and improve collaboration between different refugee and immigrant communities. More to come regarding our collaboration!

Thank you for your time and words of encouragement representative Sabadosa! Purna Neupane Mukesh Chandra Baral Sangya Dhungana Pabitra Neupane

Mukesh Baral on LinkedIn: Lindsay Sabadosa thanking the 4th ARISE cohort for the community advocacy… Lindsay Sabadosa thanking the 4th ARISE cohort for the community advocacy and engagement! Thank you representative Sabadosa for the encouragement!

4th Cohort of Refugee Advocate training underway! This training is bringing in 17 Advocates with the power of serving families speaking 16 different languages College!

ARISE is headed to the Western part of MA to distribute the warm 5 children jackets, 12 warm hats, 24 pairs of gloves and 24 pairs of Thermal socks! Our Board member Madeleine DelVicario is in charge of the distribution and coordination of the donations to our families in Springfield and the west. Again Thanks to Andrea Castinetti and her realty group for the donation. Purna Neupane Pabitra Neupane

ARISE distributed a dozen jackets, 20 warm caps, 18 pairs of gloves for adults, 14 pair of gloves kids, 24 pairs winter Thermal socks to our Worcester families today! Thanks to the generous donation of Shrewsbury Realtor group lead by Andrea Castinetti!

Why do you want to be a Refugee Advocate?

Watch this story by Advocacy for Refugee and Immigrant Services for Empowerment on Instagram before it disappears. 52 Followers, 73 Following, 7 Posts

What do you want to be a Refugee Advocate?

INTRODUCING *drum roll*…. Mio Loubaresse-Takei! Mio is currently a sophomore at Clark University majoring in International Development & Social Change, and Global Environmental Studies. Check out more testimonials from our Refugee Advocate cohort @https://ariseus.org/about/refugee-advocate/refugee-advocate-testimonials/

Third cohort of Refugee Advocates that speaks 15 different languages is ready to work with the recently resettled refugee families!

This third Refugee Advocate Cohort speaks 15 different languages! That's like hiring 15 bilingual staff and placing them 1 on 1 with the newly resettled families to support them navigate the complexities of US systems in their new communities. Saturday the 14th is the last day of ARISE's Refugee Advocate training! We would like to thank Ascentria Care Alliance for the training space! Purna Neupane

Thanks to The Boston Foundaion & The United Way of Massachusetts Bay for this generous support! ARISE is fortunate enough to work with the migrant families and would like to thank everyone who put the foundtion to this opportunity! Purna Neupane

United Way of Massachusetts Bay and The Boston Foundation award $570,000 from Massachusetts Migrant Families Relief Fund - United Way of Massachusetts Bay Boston – United Way of Massachusetts Bay and The Boston Foundation today announced the first of two rapid distributions of $570,000 to 12 community-based organizations from The Massachusetts Migrant Families…

Ready for the third cohort of Refugee Advocate training! Are you a compassionate college student? You can still register for the tow days long-- 7th and 14th--October training.

ARISE is hosting a two day training for Potential Refugee Advocates on October 7th and 14th!! 😃😎 The training will include an overview of US resettlement, the need for and role of a refugee advocate, learning of the ARISE need-based assessment, and will end with a panel of refugees and immigrants speaking on their experience... and more! What is a Refugee Advocate? The Refugee Advocate Program assigns a refugee advocate to one refugee family to understand that family’s specific circumstances and to serve as a guide to that family in navigating the often-challenging path to resettlement. This unique program pairs a refugee advocate with a refugee family to build trusting relationships, conduct needs assessment, and help the family navigate services based on their individual needs.

EAD quick processing will make the resettlement process a lot better. Thanks to the Biden- Harris administration!

Fact Sheet: The Biden-Harris Administration Takes New Actions to Increase Border Enforcement and Accelerate Processing for Work Authorizations, While Continuing to Call on Congress to Act | Homeland Security The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) is announcing another series of actions to increase enforcement across the Southwest Border, accelerate processing of work authorizations, and the decision to redesignate and extend Temporary Protected Status (TPS) for Venezuela.

Stay safe if you are working with Hatians parole as Neo N***s and White supremacist groups are showing in shelters and hotels where Hatian families are being housed. This happened in Quincy but I have heard that several other cities and towns alsor receiving similar threats from White Supremacist gangs. The counter rally is an welcome sign. It's time to show our force supporting our Migrant Families feeling violence! More to come; stay tuned!!

State officials to visit Quincy 3 days after neo-N***s march outside ENC migrant shelter Officials from various state agencies, together with college representatives, will present details of the program and answer questions.

Massachusetts governor declared a state of emergency yesterday! Because the Hatian cuban humanitarian crisis needs all hands on deck. There are atleast 400 families in emergency housing shelters within 25 milies radius of where ARISE is located. We have some pictures of their desperate situations. But we will keep them for next time. Instead the picture below fits the narrative. It is of an Irish Famine Memorial located at the heart of Boston. It was established just a couple of decade back to commemorate the triumph and tragedy of the famine of 1850 when Irish-- the same Irish that were looked down--became politically and financially strong enough to speak up not just in words but in stones. Just a reminder that indifference to people's sorrow was not invented yesterday. We will have similar memorials in the US commemorating the humanitarian crisis that is unfolding now in almost every cities and towns of America. Make no mistake, the Hatians of today will get a chance to write their stories in stone tomorrow. The only question is: Can we come across in their memories as caring and compassionate people or more of the same depicted here. Can we change the statues of the future memorials that will be carved by the current migrant families seeking asylum? Please reach out to ARISE if you want to be a part of the solution. Purna Neupane

You must have heard that recently arrived Hatian and Cuban families are spending their nights in a hospital lobby. Seriously MA! We can do better than this. This problem is so huge that NY Mayor is asking New Yorkers to be a part of the solution. Community is the answer for caring and consistent engagement with these families of refugees and asylees!
So, what can you do?
ARISE needs volunteers to serve food to these families in Worcester, the food is delivered from resturants. Any one after wrapping their regular work can support us for dinner distribution.
And if you are a COLLEGE/ UNIVERSITY student we want to hear from you. If you are passionate enough to directly work and impact their lives, you can work with us to be a Refugee Advocate! You can sign up to take a training to be an advocate. Please fill out the form below and be a part of the solution. https://ariseus.org/
Any takers?

ARISE has signed a MOU and formally entered into a partnership with Care Alliance to serve refugee families in Massachusetts through our program Refugee Advocate! This partnership is key in securing the funds required for the operation and expansion of the program. ARISE has been training compasionate college students and injecting them into refugee families 1 on 1 to build trusting relationships, conduct needs assesment, and helping them navigate services based on their individual needs. We are excited and with this new partnership hope to impact more lives. Are you a college student passionate to make an impact? We want to hear from you!! Purna Neupane Mukesh Chandra Baral Pabitra Neupane

Shout out to all these restaurants/marketplace for donating ethnic delicious food for the event! Your generosity requires to be on record. Thank you from ARISE !

ED HYDER’S MEDITERRANEAN MARKETPLACE Armenian, Greek, and Middle Eastern communities of Worcester bringing traditional foods from their native lands.

BAY STATE SHAWARMA & GRILL
A Halal Mediterranean, Lebanese Cuisine Restaurant + Grocery Store + Bakery for Pies.

FATIMA’S CAFE
Delicious Kenyan and Somali food from the Mohamed family.

ELDER PAINTSIL’s

Ghanaian restaurant by the Paintsil’s. Great family made cuisine! Check them out on Main street!

And thank you to our Refugee Advocate Rivot who stepped up to be the coordinator for this food drive! Purna Neupane Mukesh Chandra Baral Pabitra Neupane

See you all at 4PM!

Got a car that is just sitting at your garage collecting dust? Or did you just get a new one and are thinking of donating your old one? We can help to make sure that it reaches the right family!

ARISE on LinkedIn: This is a Family from Afghanistan that was recently resettled in… This is a Family from Afghanistan that was recently resettled in Worcester. It's a family of 8. The five children are not in the picture. The father has a part…

www.linkedin.com

Have you ever struggled to communicate what your priorities are becuase of the language barrier? And when you finally do, you feel no one listens to you! Well, some of our refugee families are struggling with these continuously. This family of 6 from Haiti has a lot on its plate-- 4 months child, falling ceiling, the skin condition of another child that is really concerning, children's education, your own English classes, work permit, keep on adding. When things get out of control, our step in to help navigate these complexities. College in action!

2nd cohort of Refugee Advoactes ready to serve the Refugee families in need! I have no words to express my gratitude to our training experts: LICSW Kali Geddes and Immigration attorney Alex Mooradian! Without their generosity this was not possible. Special thanks to Professor Anita Fabos for distributing the certificates to our newly minted Refugee Advocates!

Recently resettled in Worcester, this refugee family has two kids with cerebral palsy. ARISE is working to allign the required care for the family, prioritizing the appropriate services for two kids starting with a wheel chair having lap belts antitipers. Our Board member, who is a trained medical doctor, accompanied the family to the younger ones doctor's visit today. Nadeem successfully advocated for the right wheel chair appropriate for the kid. So the equipment ordered!! The note states: "This patient cannot safely ambulate without this equipment and/or this equipment is essential to the patients healing and rehabilitation." ARISE hopes to explore the resources and expedite the processes to intervene for the care of these two kids. Since our board member has the medical language required for the conversation this process became smooth for the family. The kids did not get the appropriate intervention on therpay or medical procedure in a refugee camp or prior to entering to the states. ARISE hopes to advocate to expedite the process of support and seek appropriate services required for their rehabilitation. ARISE strongly believes in exploring the window of opportunity to see if switch/ stick mobility designed for quadriplegic patients is still an option. Ideas on how to support these kids are welcomed.

This story of Resiliency started in Kabul, Afghanistan. Because of confidentiality, we won't give you names but this is a family of 8 resettled in Worcester, MA. ARISE has recently placed a Refugee Advocate on this family. It's a family knitted together with love and understanding. A father who works in a factory, to provide for his six kids. A mother who takes care of the six kids and is worried for the family's well-being. A cute two year old littel boy, and an adorable smiley 3 year old, and a friendly 8 year old, I could go on, kept on popping their heads, through the half opened common room door, and saluting us in their mother tongue. A 16 year old boy, so smart and so focused that his story of chasing an American dream from the day he boarded an American rescue plane, and his uphill battel to keep his family together, almost brought tears to the eyes of his Refugee Advocate. ARISE through this Refugee Advocate is developing relationship with this family. A family which has so little resources but so generous! A family chasing their dreams--dealing with their difficult transition to the American life, together as a united front. One part time job, 8 mouths to feed, 6 kids to educate... the challanges are numerous. An Advocate through ARISE will be closely working with this family, providing hope, consistent support, the needs assessment, and helping them navigate the complexities of the American system. ARISE will carve out a plan for the effective resettlement for this family, based on their needs determined by the family. Interested in this real story? More on its way...

This is just a beginning! ARISE will try to bring you true stories of refugee families, their resiliency, their strength, and their hopes and aspirations, amidst difficult and uncertain transition to the American society, every time we have one.

Are you a college student in Massachusetts? Want to make a difference in the lives of refugee families as a Refugee Advocate? Step in and learn: ARISE will train you on how to work with the most vulnerable families and support them navigate the complexities of the American systems. Register here: https://ariseus.org/

Seeking Refugee Advocate College! The interest of students is such that probably can train a second cohort of refugee advocates right at Smith. We had 3 students from Smith in our first cohort.