Catholic Charities Southwestern Ohio

Hassan Abdullahi, Summer 2019

This past summer I had the privilege of working with Catholic Charities Southwestern Ohio. CCSWOH, specifically the Refugee Resettlement division, is responsible for the resettlement of refugees that arrive through US Department of State and UNHCR to the greater Cincinnati area. CCSWOH handles things like securing housing, providing transportation, applying for social security and other benefits, employment applications and school applications for children, just about anything to get refugee clients settled in their new country. As you may expect this includes a lot of teaching. Clients are required to attend ESL classes among other classes such as cultural orientation, financial literacy, and job interview preparation.

My responsibilities at CCSWOH were primarily in support of the job of the case manager and housing specialist. I did things such as help provide transportation to clients to medical appointments, take clients to social security office, BMV, job interviews, etc. I also supported our housing specialist find housing for clients, manage our donation program (coordinate donation pickup and drop-off to warehouse from donator homes), furnish homes using donated items, and organizing the warehouse. Another important responsibility that interns had was to provide bus training to clients. Classes were held at the CCSWOH office and virtually all clients do not have access to vehicles, making it important to teach clients how to get to places using the bus system. With World Refugee Day being on June 20th interns will have the opportunity to help organize a big celebration for our clients and their families. This past World Refugee Day we were able to use the Cincinnati Red's youth facility to set up the event. Families were able to enjoy all the games, foods, arts and crafts, music, dancing, and gift giveaways.

Personally, I could not think of a better way to spend my last free summer. Already having a deep appreciation for the process immigrants and refugees face arriving here in the US, I have a better understanding of all the work that goes on behind the scenes. Things such as finding a landlord who will provide decent housing for clients, who have no rental history by the way, can seem almost impossible. Case managers must manage that, among all the other responsibilities they have. It is important that they are available and can adapt when needed, and I have a tremendous amount of respect for all the work that they do. The work ethic, savviness, and patience exhibited by the case managers and staff, as well as the sheer determination to become self-sufficient shown by the clients inspire me to do my best as I continue my journey.

Download Hassan's poster (.pptx)