Following the devastating earthquake in Haiti, Nationalities Service Center joined together with other local agencies to prepare to provide services and housing for injured Haitians and their companions who might be coming to Philadelphia.  In order to prepare for their arrival, NSC reached out to the community and asked for support, not just in the form of donations, but for volunteers as well.  Thank you to everyone who answered our call and who, without hesitation, offered to give of their time and energy to help those in need.  We were recently informed that Philadelphia would not be receiving Haitians. We will contact all those who expressed interest in volunteering if the situation changes, but for now we would again thank all who responded for your overwhelming support.  It showed the spirit of Philadelphia at its best.

By JULIA PRESTON
Published: February 2, 2010

The United States military airlift of Haitians who were severely injured in the earthquake is expanding this week to deliver patients to hospitals in and around Tampa, Fla., and Atlanta, federal health officials said Tuesday.

Full Article

]]> http://www.nationalitiesservice.org/index.php/2010/03/03/nsc-in-the-news-us-expanding-medical-care-for-haitians-new-york-times/feed/ http://www.nationalitiesservice.org/index.php/2010/02/26/job-posting-assistant-coordinator-interepretation-and-translation-temporary/ http://www.nationalitiesservice.org/index.php/2010/02/26/job-posting-assistant-coordinator-interepretation-and-translation-temporary/#comments Fri, 26 Feb 2010 16:40:40 +0000 admin http://www.nationalitiesservice.org/?p=1322 Position: Interpretation and Translation Assistant Coordinator
Department: Interpretation and Translation Department
Reports to: Interpretation and Translation Coordinator
FLSA Status:

Position Summary

The Interpretation and Translation Coordinator Assistant will assist, support and be responsible to Coordinator for set-up and maintenance of interpretation and translation projects and billing, receiving and sending correspondence, updating records, communicating with clients and vendors, answering phones and performing other office-related tasks. This position may also involve inquiries about past due balances and identifying the problems that need to be solved.

For full announcement click here!

Deadline to apply is March 10, 2010. Please send cover letter and resume to Pamela Jones-Burnley, Office Manager at pjones-burnley@nscphila.org. No phone calls will be accepted.

PAPERS is the story of undocumented youth and the challenges they face as they turn 18 without legal status.

Join us in raising awareness about the lives of undocumented youth and learn how you can support the DREAM Act, a bill introduced in Congress in 2009 that would provide legal status to undocumented youth who were brought to the U.S. as children, provided they complete two years of college or military service.

According to the film’s website, 65,000 undocumented students graduate every year from high school without “papers” and the door to their future slams shut. There are approximately 2 million undocumented children who were born outside the U.S. and raised in this country. These are young people who were educated in American schools, hold American values, know only the U.S. as home and yet risk deportation to countries they may not even remember.

Screening Information:

Date: Thursday, February 25
Time: 5:30pm
Location Arch Street United Methodist Church, Broad and Arch Streets.

Date: Saturday, February 27
Time: 2:00pm
Location: Chestnut Hill United Methodist Church, 8812 Germantown Avenue

Remarks by Dennis Mulligan, Executive Director of Nationalities Service Center (NSC), and NSC attorney David Bennion, will follow the screening.

$5.00 at the door. Light refreshments will be served.

For more information:

Margaret Harris at 215.568.2206

Kathrin Ivanovic at 215.893.8400 x 1522

By Michael Matza

Inquirer Staff Writer

The alarm clock’s 3 a.m. ring awakened 50-year-old Rudra Kuikel and his eldest daughter, Thagi, 22, in their lightly furnished South Philadelphia apartment.

An hour later they were in a van along with other immigrants headed for the Swedesboro packaged-food plant where father and daughter, working side by side, chopped lettuce for eight hours, netting $50 each after taxes and paying $5 each for transportation.

See full article!

Directed by Barbara Attie and Janet Goldwater
2009, 58 minutes

For more information!

]]> http://www.nationalitiesservice.org/index.php/2010/02/17/screening-of-mrs-goundos-daughter/feed/ http://www.nationalitiesservice.org/index.php/2010/02/12/nsc-in-the-news-bbc-series-chronicling-bhutanese-family-part-i-and-part-ii/ http://www.nationalitiesservice.org/index.php/2010/02/12/nsc-in-the-news-bbc-series-chronicling-bhutanese-family-part-i-and-part-ii/#comments Fri, 12 Feb 2010 21:01:12 +0000 admin http://www.nationalitiesservice.org/?p=1327 A two part BBC series featured a 19 year old Bhutanese refugee, Cheda and his family (airing in October 2009 and January 2010). The series highlights the family’s incredible optimism as they struggle with securing economic independence in a down economy.

BBC Story - Part I

BBC Story - Part II

Dennis Mulligan, Esq., Executive Director of Nationalities Service Center, has been appointed to the Immigrant subcommittee by Mayor Nutter to develop census awareness and outreach throughout Philadelphia’s many vibrant immigrant communities.

English | French | Spanish | Arabic | Chinese | Khmer | Additional Languages

There are several other critical ways you can get involved in the 2010 Census.

How can I get a job as a Census worker?
The U.S. Census Bureau’s recruiting efforts for 2009 census taker* jobs have ended. To learn about other census jobs in Philadelphia, please visit the U.S. Census Bureau Philadelphia Regional Office’s web page at www.census.gov/philadelphia. Or you can call them at (215) 717-1800 or 1-800-262-4236.

How do I volunteer to help with the Philly Counts campaign?
To become a Philly Counts volunteer, please send an email to phillycounts@phila.gov or you can fill out the form on the “Volunteer” form on the right side of this page.

…more 2010 Census FAQ!

Position Summary

NSC’s Refugee Health Coordinator plays a pivotal role in the delivery of resettlement services to a large and culturally and linguistically diverse refugee population. A successful candidate will have a public health background and have the opportunity to work directly with newly arrived refugees while developing and sustaining clinic partners.

For full announcement click here!

Deadline to apply is February 26, 2010. Please send cover letter and resume to Pamela Jones-Burnley, Office Manager at pjones-burnley@nscphila.org. No phone calls will be accepted.

Position Summary
Under the supervision of the Director of Legal Services, and working closely with other department staff, the Legal Assistant will assist in the provision of direct legal services to immigrants and refugees.

For full announcement click here!

Deadline to apply is Friday, January 22, 2010. Please send cover letter and resume to Pamela Jones-Burnley, Office Manager at pjones-burnley@nscphila.org. No phone calls will be accepted.

]]> http://www.nationalitiesservice.org/index.php/2010/01/04/job-position-immigration-legal-assistant/feed/ http://www.nationalitiesservice.org/index.php/2009/12/07/nsc-news-this-bridge-of-trust/ http://www.nationalitiesservice.org/index.php/2009/12/07/nsc-news-this-bridge-of-trust/#comments Mon, 07 Dec 2009 19:10:27 +0000 admin http://www.nationalitiesservice.org/?p=1151 READ - NSC Winter 2009 Newsletter

This Bridge of Trust:
Psychological Support for Asylum Seekers
Work with Torture Survivors “Sobering but Immensely Uplifting”

Psychologist Judy Eidelson has provided pro bono or low cost psychological evaluation services to seventy Philadelphia area asylum seekers, ten of those through NSC, in the past seven years. Through Psychologists for Social Responsibility, she is also creating a project to educate and mentor other psychologists who want to learn how to provide sensitive psychological services to traumatized asylum seekers. Asked about her motivation for this work, she responds, “It seems to me we all have a responsibility to do what we can about the suffering of other people.”

Dr. Eidelson particularly enjoys working with NSC because the issue of trust is so important for asylum seekers, whose experiences have been destructive of trust and hope. She commented, “It’s great to work with the legal staff at NSC. The clients coming to me from NSC have come to trust their attorneys’ advice, because they see how hard the attorneys are working for them.”

The daughter of Holocaust survivors, Judy feels an especially direct connection with asylum seekers: “I am very grateful for the refuge my parents found in the United States. This is one reason that I spend some of my time working with refugees who have experienced trauma.”

In the beginning, Judy was concerned that it would be too hard to listen to survivors’ stories of torture and abuse. But after years working with torture and abuse survivors she says, “It’s sobering but immensely uplifting because of the resilience of the human spirit and what people are able to endure because of their commitment to values, to children, to life itself.”

Collaboration with NSC Legal Department

SC’s Legal Department represents many survivors of torture, abuse and persecution. This work is focused on helping these survivors gain a “safe haven” in the US: protection from being returned to their country if they are likely to face further persecution or torture there, and permanent legal status in the US to enable them to rebuild their shattered lives.

We do this by working with clients to document their experiences, applying for asylum and relief under the Convention Against Torture. We also represent many immigrant survivors of domestic violence in the US who are able to seek protection and legal status through applications under the Violence Against Women Act and U visas. Helping these clients toward long-term protection, security, and access to vital services is an important part of NSC’s mission.

All of these applications require proof of the physical and emotional harms that the person suffered. NSC relies on a small but growing network of volunteer psychologists to provide a key component in these cases: the psychological evaluation of the client. Working alongside NSC lawyers, Dr. Eidelson’s pro bono evaluations have helped some of our most severely traumatized clients obtain asylum and other protections.

Dr. Eidelson’s psychological evaluations provide the decision- maker (usually an Asylum Officer or Immigration Judge) with an expert assessment of the client’s state of mind, thus helping the adjudicator evaluate the client’s credibility.

Government decision-makers want clear, linear testimony. But “trauma itself makes it difficult to present the claim: individuals may withhold information, display intense emotions, or become irritable when asked questions over and over by hostile questioners,” Dr. Eidelson explains. “Psychologists know it’s normal to remember different aspects of a traumatic experience at different times, so this is a translation process. We become a bridge between the client and the legal system, where our expertise is respected.” Thanks to this bridge, a trauma survivor is more likely to be understood and found credible.

According to a recent study conducted by Physicians for Human Rights, when a psychological or medical evaluation is included as part of the claim, asylum seekers’ success rates increase from 37% to 89%.In cases where documentation is scarce, especially for people who had to quickly flee their homes without documents to escape harm, the psychological evaluation is often the main way NSC attorneys can corroborate a client’s story.

NSC legal staff views Dr. Eidelson’s support and contributions as vital to their ability to win cases and connect with clients. “Judy really goes above and beyond for our clients,” says Anna Paciorek, senior staff attorney. “I look forward to reading her assessments because, in the majority of my cases, she finds a new, helpful detail that the client was reluctant to share or maybe did not think was relevant.”

During a recent evaluation for a pending asylum claim, Dr. Eidelson recognized that the client may have sustained a permanent brain injury due to repeated blows to the head during armed conflict in his country. She recommended a neurological consult and pointed NSC staff towards potential evaluators. This discovery may prove to be the determining factor in our ability to demonstrate the severity of the abuse suffered by our client. He also gained new insight into his own condition: he had suffered from memory loss, disorientation, and severe headaches for many years without receiving medical attention. Now he has a better chance not only of asylum, but also of accurate diagnosis and appropriate treatment.

For trauma survivors, the psychological evaluation can have additional benefits. Because it involves listening with great interest and compassion to the life experience of a refugee, Judy commented, the psychological evaluation also “can be the beginning of a healing process.”

Asylum Project Helps Psychologists Conduct Evaluations

The need is urgent, yet mental health professionals face obstacles in learning to provide psychological evaluations of asylum-seekers. “These obstacles include unfamiliarity with immigration law, a lack of training in multicultural competence, and limited knowledge of the conflicts and contexts that generate political violence,” Judy explained.

To overcome these hurdles, Dr. Eidelson and her colleague, Dr. Suzan Greenberg, who also conducts psychological evaluations for NSC, launched the Political Asylum Project through Psychologists for Social Responsibility (PsySR). The project enables psychologists interested in assisting asylum seekers to network with more experienced providers. It gathers materials and resources in one easily accessible place, and it provides a forum where professionals can discuss complex, sensitive questions with each other, increasing their multicultural competency along the way.

This support minimizes burnout risk, enables practitioners to organize workshops and symposia, and encourages more psychologists to get involved. To learn more about the project, go to www.psysr.org and click on “asylum,” the first category that pops up under the “issues” heading. To contact Judy Eidelson directly, write to her at judyeidelson@gmail.com.

NSC Support for Torture Survivors

In addition to its ongoing legal work on behalf of torture survivors, NSC created a new program for Survivors of Torture this year. Staffed by Emily Spann in NSC’s Department of Social Services, the program seeks to connect survivors with culturally and linguistically appropriate mental health care, in addition to other vital social services.

The program is funded by the United Nations Voluntary Fund for Victims of Torture, and meets a need which has been evident for some time. Established referral networks typically do not serve low income, non English speakers, or undocumented immigrants. The NSC Survivors of Torture and Trauma Project is establishing new networks with practitioners, such as Judy and Suzan, who do serve this group.

As new networks grow, NSC hopes other mental health professionals will conclude, as Judy has, that assisting torture survivors is “some of the most rewarding work of my professional career.”

For more information about the Survivors of Torture and Trauma Project, please contact Emily Spann: 215.893.8400 x1540, espann@nscphila.org

Rediscovering Ur’s Royal Cemetery

Date: Sunday, December 6, 2009

Time: 1:00 pm - 5:00 pm

Location: Penn Museum - 3260 South Street, Philadelphia, PA 19104

1:00 pm - 4:00 pm, Annual Peace Around the World: Passport to Culture

Free Family and Volunteer Holiday Celebration!

Visit galleries where Penn Museum International Classroom speakers share holiday traditions of their home countries through music, stories, art, games, and more. The afternoon also features international entertainments and free treats for children!

1:30 pm, Reception and short talk by Richard Zettler, Associate Curator of the Near East Section of Penn Museum, and co-curator of  “Iraq’s Ancient Past: Rediscovering Ur’s Royal Cemetery.” Following the talk, join Dr. Zettler for a tour of this special exhibit.

The event is free for the refugee families and volunteers.

Come and meet Iraqi families, NSC staff and learn about the Iraq’s ancient past!

To reserve tickets, please call Zakariya Ismael: zismael@nscphila.org

(215) 893-8400 ext.1556

For more information please see  here!

Laura and Richard Steel, Honorary Chairpersons - 2009 Global Tastes

One of the most daunting barriers to self-sufficiency that immigrants face is language. Learning to speak, read and write English well is essential to finding a job, supporting a family, and being actively involved in community and civic life. NSC offers a way to meet this challenge by offering inexpensive English as a Second Language (ESL) classes at a variety of levels for immigrants and refugees. For some, however, even this low cost is too much.

Years ago, Richard and Laura Steel set out to provide newcomers to Philadelphia with the opportunity to learn  English. The Richard D. Steel ESL Scholarship Fund was established, allowing NSC to provide a small number of scholarships to qualifying students for each of our 10 week class sessions. Hundreds of immigrants have been helped thanks to the Steels’ generosity.

In the current difficult economic times, the number of scholarship applicants has greatly increased. Each session NSC receives many more applications for scholarships than existing funding can support, causing needy students to be turned away from these necessary classes.

The Steels and NSC are committed to growing this scholarship fund, with the hope that no students are denied access to our ESL classes due to a lack of means. Please join us in this mission by generously donating to the Richard D. Steel ESL Scholarship Fund.

*Please indicate that your gift is for the “ESL Scholarship Fund”*

To contribute to the Richard D. Steel ESL Scholarship Fund, contact Kathrin P. Ivanovic, our director of development at 215-893-8400 or kivanovic@nscphila.org.

Kathrin P. Ivanovic
Director of Development
(215) 893-8400
kivanovic@nscphila.org

NATIONALITIES SERVICE CENTER & the PENN MUSEUM
to host GLOBAL TASTES

A culinary fundraiser celebrating Philadelphia’s Diverse Communities Through Food

PHILADELPHIA, PA August 31, 2009 - On Wednesday, September 30, Nationalities Service Center (NSC) will bring together some of the city’s most distinctive ethnic restaurants to celebrate the exciting diversity of immigrant communities in Philadelphia. Laura and Richard Steel, long time supporters of NSC, are Chairpersons of the Host Committee for this year’s event. The event will take place at the Penn Museum (3260 South Street) from 6:00-8:00 p.m. and is open to the public.

For full press release click here!

Amala’s Story

Amala’s husband was a prominent business owner in Baghdad who was kidnapped by insurgents because of his family’s wealth and status. Amala sold the family belongings to collect the ransom, not knowing if she would see her husband again. Months later, her husband was dumped in front of their home. Although he had endured several months of being hung by his wrists and whipped, his physical wounds were never treated because the family was terrified that if he left the house he would be kidnapped again.

NSC resettled Amala, her husband, and their two young children as refugees and continues to provide support to the family. Her husband currently receives treatment for his wounds, Amala receives psychological counseling, and their children will soon have access to art therapy to help them cope with witnessing their father’s kidnapping.

On this day, International Day in Support of Victims of Torture, we are given an opportunity to reflect on the needs of survivors of torture who are making Philadelphia their new home. NSC is committing itself to serve survivors of torture and we hope that you will join us. We are eager to offer survivors the chance to become contributing members of the Philadelphia community.

We need your support toprovide survivors of torture like Amala and her family with vital services to rebuild their lives and to transform their experience from that of pain and suffering into a renewed sense of meaning.

• $25 for art therapy session for a child who has witnessed acts of violence so that she/he may begin to express and communicate emotions
• $75 for a psychological and physical health evaluation for one survivor so that the survivors wounds can begin to heal
• $150 for the cost of 2 months transportation assistance to help a survivor get to critical appointments including physical and occupational therapy, counseling, doctors visits, and meetings with their attorney
• $300 40 hours of case management support to help a survivor access needed resources and services

Ways to Give!

• Donate Online!
• Donate via Fax using our Contributions Form!
• Send a check via mail to: Nationalities Service Center, c/o Development Department, 1216 Arch Street, 4th Floor, Philadelphia, PA 19107.

To discuss other ways to give, please contact Kathrin P. Ivanovic, Director of Development at 215.893.8400 x 1522 or kivanovic@nscphila.org.

Benefiting Nationalities Service Center

Nationalities Service Center is partnering with The Urban Momentum Network, Premier Brand Group and OnlyUp to provide you with an exciting opportunity to make a difference in the lives of Philadelphia’s newest residents while forging relationships with other connectors, intellectuals, entrepreneurs, and movers and shakers in the Philadelphia area.

All proceeds will benefit NSC’s refugee resettlement efforts and will be used to provide household goods, clothing, furniture, culturally and ethnically appropriate food and school supplies to recently arrived refugees.

Event Sponsors:

Date: Thursday, July 9, 2009
Time: 6:00 pm to 8:30 pm
Location: The Rum Bar - Restaurant and Lounge (2005 Walnut Street)

**Happy Hour Special until 8:30**

Suggested Donation: $15 includes 5 raffle tickets (additional raffle tickets may be purchased for $1 a piece)

Raffle Prizes Include:

• Six Group Tickets to Eastern State Penitentiary Tours
• Gift Basket from La Colombe Coffee
• Bowling Party for 16 at Lucky Strike Lanes
• Gift Basket from Lush
• Brunch for Two at Manayunk Brewery
• Gift Basket from Old City Coffee
• Moviet Tickets, Popcorn and Drink for Two at Ritz Movie 5
• Private Dance Lessons for Two at Society Hill Dance Academy
• Two Tickets for performance of Paco Pena at the Kimmel Center
• Gift Basket from Trader Joe’s
• Two Tickets for performance at the Wilma Theater
• Two Tickets for performance at the Allens Lane Art Center
• Signed copy of Kinky Gazpacho by Lori L. Tharps
• Signed copy of The Other Side of Paradise, a memoir by Staceyann Chin
• Two Tickets to Japanese Tea Demonstration at the Japanese House and Garden

……and more!

For more information, please contact Kathrin P. Ivanovic, Director of Development at 215.893.8400 or kivanovic@nscphila.org.

All Contributions are tax deductible as allowed by law.

NSC is registered with the Pennsylvania Bureau of Charitable Organizations. A copy of our registration and financial statement may be obtained from the Pennsylvania Department of State by calling 1-800-732-0999. Registration does not imply endorsement.

Nationalities Service Center Presents:
2009 Global Tastes
Celebrating Philadelphia’s Diverse Communities Through Food

NSC’s 1st Beacon of Justice Award
Mayor Michael A. Nutter

Entertainment by: Peter Tang’s Chinese Ensemble

Wednesday, September 30, 2009
6:00 p.m. to 8:00 p.m.
Penn Museum (directions)

Museum Parking and Detour Directions

$75.00 each, Individual Ticket
$50.00 each, Non-Profit Employee Tickets

Online event registration

For more information - click here!

Kathrin P. Ivanovic
Director of Development
215.893.8400
kivanovic@nscphila.org

NSC Hosts Refugee Resettlement Cultural Orientation Trainers

NSC named as lead Philadelphia agency to welcome Cultural Orientation trainers for  refugee resettlement informational exchange

Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, May 12, 2009 - Nationalities Service Center will host Cultural Orientation trainers from Amman, Jordan and Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia on Thursday, May 14 and Friday, May 15 as part of the Department of State Bureau of Population, Refugees, and Migration sponsored Cultural Orientation exchange program. They will have the opportunity to meet with NSC’s staff and staff members of other Philadelphia refugee resettlement agencies, as well as recently resettled refugees.

For full press release click here!

By Maria Sacchetti, Globe Staff | April 30, 2009

CAMBRIDGE - Nur Munir was supposed to earn a master’s degree from Harvard in June. But this month he vanished.

Classmates said the slight, gentle divinity student had never missed a session in his seminar on Islamic law, where he sat right next to the professor. He was a fixture at prayers at the Harvard Islamic Society. Students began to ask: “What happened to Nur?”

Soon, one of his professors received an e-mail: Munir was in a Pennsylvania jail fighting deportation to Indonesia.

Now, his classmates and professors are waging a letter-writing campaign to persuade federal immigration officials to grant Munir a stay of deportation, at least until he completes his master’s in theological studies. Munir, who classmates say is a Muslim who passionately supports peaceful relations with Jews, has been fighting to stay in the United States for the past decade.

For full article, click here!

Nur Munir, a student at Harvard Divinity School who had recently been detained by Immigrations and Customs Enforcement, has been released from York County Prison in Pennsylvania so that he may complete his studies at Harvard. The news of Munir’s release came on May 10th, after the Department of Homeland Security granted his application for deferred action, partly due to the tremendous support he received from students and faculty in the Harvard community. Munir had been detained for deportation after the final denial of the appeal of his asylum application, and now will be able to return to Cambridge to complete his studies.

Below is a letter written by Munir from prison on May 3rd, before his application for deferred action was granted, in which he expresses his gratitude to the Harvard community for the support he received.

For full article, click here!

Kathrin P. Ivanovic
Director of Development
215.893.8400
kivanovic@nscphila.org

NSC Joins National Coalition to
Establish Immigrant Family Violence Institute

NSC helps launch the Immigrant Family Violence Institute to facilitate awareness of domestic violence issues among immigrant populations

Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, April 21, 2009 - The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services has awarded funding to Nationalities Service Center and five other immigrant service agencies, to establish the Immigrant Family Violence Institute (IFVI). IFVI is a national coalition of six highly-reputable, ethnically diverse immigrant services agencies and members of the U.S. Committee for Refugees and Immigrants (USCRI). USCRI, a national non-profit organization, and its member agencies serve more than 1 million refugees annually.

For full press release, click here!

Welcome to our new quarterly e-Newsletter - NSC’s Voice. Many exciting things are happening at NSC and we look forward to this new opportunity to share them with you. In each issue you will learn about new activities at NSC and receive information about upcoming events, ongoing programs and issues, and ways you can become involved.

NSC is a place were the hundreds of people we help each year feel welcome and safe. They depend on our expertise and our support as they work to learn English, establish a new home in the U.S., apply for asylum or naturalization, seek the services of an interpreter, or take part in age and culturally appropriate activities at our Senior Center. We in turn, depend on the support of our many, many volunteers and donors, whose generous contributions are so vital to our agency’s success.

We look forward to the prospect of sharing stories with you about the individuals and families we serve. We also hope that this will provide you with an opportunity to engage in dialogue with us. Your feedback is encouraged and welcome at all times.

Sincerely yours,

Dennis Mulligan
Executive Director

For full Spring 2009 Newsletter click here!

Kathrin P. Ivanovic
Director of Development
215.893.8400
kivanovic@nscphila.org

Nationalities Service Center Announces Chinatown Immigration Law Project

NSC receives Independence Foundation Public Interest Law Fellowship for launch of Chinatown Immigration Law Project, an initiative that provides free immigration legal services to low-income residents of Philadelphia’s Chinese community

Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, January 20, 2009 - Nationalities Service Center (NSC) was awarded a Public Interest Law Fellowship from the Independence Foundation to establish the Chinatown Immigration Law Project. This project will provide free immigration legal services to low-income residents of Philadelphia’s Chinese community. The project is headed by Brian Wang, who graduated from Temple University Beasley School of Law in May 2008. Brian recently passed the bar examination and will be admitted as an attorney in February 2009.

For full press release, click here!

Kathrin P. Ivanovic
Director of Development
215.893.8400
kivanovic@nscphila.org

Nationalities Service Center Launches Refugee
Health Care Initiative

Nationalities Service Center Awarded Barra Foundation Grant for Philly Refugee Health  Care Initiative in Partnership with Thomas Jefferson Hospital

Philadelphia, PA - December 20, 2008 - The Barra Foundation recently awarded the Nationalities Service Center (NSC) funding to launch a new health care initiative for refugees. The grant enabled NSC to recruit Kim Johnson who now serves as NSC’s Health Coordinator for the Social Service Department Refugee Resettlement services. Ms. Johnson brings with her a wealth of programming and advocacy experience gained while developing, managing, and implementing education and training programs abroad, most recently in Liberia and Thailand.

For full press release, click here!

In September NSC began its Chinatown Immigration Law Project. Two of the people that have been helped are “Mrs. Chang” and “Lee.” (Note: all clients names have been changed to protect their confidentiality.) “Mrs. Chang” is 90 years old. She was born and raised in Shanghai, and she has had her green card for over 20 years. She is active in the senior housing development where she
lives with her husband. Several years ago, she was riding a bus when a robber grabbed her purse and ran off the bus at a stop. She usually carried her green card with her everywhere, and that day was no exception.

For full Winter 2008 Newsletter, click here!

Iraqi Refugees Heading to Philly
Posted July 31, 2008 at 10:05 AM

When Iraq War casualties are mentioned, the first things that come to most Americans minds are undoubtedly U.S. military deaths - which reached 4124 this week - and possibly the number of Iraqi civilians killed: upwards of 100,000.

But with the war into its fifth year, another type of casualty is only increasing, one not often mentioned by the media and far from most Americans’ minds: Iraqi civilians permanently displaced by the war. It can happen many ways: the bombing of a house, death of a family breadwinner, militia threats or even kidnapping, to name a few. Many Iraqis who can afford it have fled to neighboring Jordan or Syria, but even if they make it there, they often don’t have the finances or the connections to rebuild some semblance of their former lives.

For full article, click here!

Yesterday (June 21st) I was invited to speak at the first-of-its-kind conference in the City of Brotherly Love. The Philadelphia-held conference was an open-borders event between the newly arrived Iraqi refugees to the Philadelphia area and their new American friends and neighbors.

For full article, click here!

Building New Lives Far from Iraq

Now in Phila., he helps other refugees resettle

As a translator for U.S. troops, Mohammed Mustafa al-Tamini faced daily dangers in Iraq, including the bomb disposal mission that nearly took his life.

Now six months after the arduous odyssey that brought him to Philadelphia, the lanky Iraqi refugee has an apartment in Malvern, a job in Center City, and the blessedly humdrum risk of a daily commute on the R5.

For full article, click here.

In June 21, 2008 NSC held its first event aimed at raising awareness and  mobilizing community support for over 100 Iraqi refugees who are expected to be resettled by NSC before September 30, 2008. The day-long event featured a photo exhibit by Linda Panetta; a healing youth art project lead by Lily Yeh; paintings by an Iraqi artist, Thamer Dawood; and an incredible array of speakers.

For full Summer 2008 Newsletter, click here!

Refugees from the war-torn Karen state in the eastern hills of Burma enjoyed a lavish Thanksgiving feast on Saturday. A group of over 50 Wharton student volunteers and partners joined with the Nationalities Service Center (NSC), a local refugee resettlement NGO, to welcome these new Philadelphia residents.

Since their arrival to the United States three months ago, the Karen Burmese have faced difficulties adjusting to their new home. Most of the older refugees do not speak English, several are suffering from serious illnesses, and many are struggling to find employment of any kind.

For full article, click here!