The First Was How to Address the Needs of Newly Arriving Hmong Refugees Who Were Leaving

History

In December 2003, the U.S. government announced that the last group of Hmong refugees in Thailand would be permitted entrance to this country. The Dane County Refugee Task Force (DCRTF) was created in early 2004 to do planning and coordination of services, with virtually no federal funding in place. In summer 2004, Linguistics Professor Marlys Macken, Human Resource Development Director Don Schutt, and SWAP Manager Tim Sell had conversations about two common concerns.

The first was how to address the needs of newly arriving Hmong refugees who were leaving Wat Tham Krabok, the last of the refugee camps in Thailand, and headed for a new home in Dane County, Wisconsin. A member of DCRTF, Professor Macken, who was primarily concerned about county gaps in three language and literacy areas (preliterate English as a Second Language/ESL, vocational ESL, and ESL at intermediate and advanced levels) initially contacted SWAP to request donations for wood furniture for new refugee families.

Manager Sell was acutely aware and concerned about the amount of damaged campus wood furniture going to landfill after it spent thirty days on the showroom floor of SWAP, the campus' surplus property redistribution center. This furniture could be usable if it were repaired and restored.

These two concerns were the seed for the grant submitted to the Ira and Ineva Reilly Baldwin Wisconsin Idea Endowment, asking for funding to support the new Hmong refugees by providing work-related English language development (later expanded to include family literacy), math skills, wood refinishing skills, as well as support in the creation of a business plan toward the development of a minority-owned recycling business.

For more information:

Jane Griswold

Learning Services Coordinator

University of Wisconsin-Madison

Office of Human Resource Development

(608) 890-0474

email:

http://www.ohrd.wisc.edu/cls/hmong

The Hmong Literacy, Language & Jobs Project is funded by the Ira & Ineva Reilly Baldwin Wisconsin Idea Endowment, hosted by the University of Wisconsin-Madison in partnership with United Refugee Services of WI and Madison Area Technical College (MATC).

The Hmong

Literacy,

Language and Jobs Project

Beginning in Summer 2005

A Career Development Opportunity for New Hmong Refugees

Basic Project Timeline

Month / Activity /
April & May 2005 / Project Charter Plan is drafted and reviewed
2005-2006 Academic Service Learning curriculum planned
5/12 Community Partners Meeting held
June 2005 / Application process open for candidates
Project Team Meeting: 6/16, 9-11 am
Program website launches
Community Partners Meeting: 6/29, 9-11 am
July 2005 / Project Team Meeting:7/27, 9-11am
Community Partners meet: 7/29, 9-11 am
Work-related ESL classes begin
August 2005 / First tutor training to be held; tutors matched
Campus’ Service Learning opportunities begin
October 2005 / Work-related math classes begin
November 2005 / Wood refinishing classes begin
December 2005 / Business plan(s) in development
June 2006 / Certificates of Completion awarded
August 2006 / Refinished furniture available

For more information see our website: http://www.ohrd.wisc.edu/cls/hmong