October 31, 2008

New refugee office to disburse federal funds

Theresa Laurence, Tennessee Register

As director of the newly created Tennessee Office for Refugees, Holly Johnson is excited to “see what creative ideas people have and be part of the solution” to help refugees successfully resettle in Tennessee.

Earlier this year, Catholic Charities of Tennessee was tapped by the U.S. Office of Refugee Resettlement to manage and disburse federal funding for refugee services statewide.

“We are very honored that ORR entrusted us with the responsibility for this critical program,” said Bill Sinclair, executive director of Catholic Charities of Tennessee.

The State of Tennessee’s Department of Human Services previously managed ORR funding statewide, but in late 2007, the department decided to cease its participation in the refugee program. 

“It’s a win-win situation for the state to get out of this program and for us to take it over,” Johnson said. For the state, overseeing funding for refugee resettlement was a very small niche program. Catholic Charities, which resettled 244 refugees in Middle Tennessee last year, has a better understanding of how to serve this special sub-group of the population, Johnson said.

Johnson, who previously served as director of the local Catholic Charities’ Refugee and Immigration Services office, now oversees a $4.2 million annual budget. Her six staff members include assistant director Louisa Saratora, who previously worked under her as program coordinator in the refugee resettlement office. 

Johnson and her staff are responsible for awarding grant money to agencies statewide that assist refugees, including Bridge Refugee Services in Knoxville and Chattanooga, Catholic Charities in Memphis and World Relief and Siloam Family Health Center in Nashville.

The Tennessee Office for Refugees also determines how much federal grant money will be directed to Catholic Charities’ Refugee Services office, which Johnson said will not get any preferential treatment. “If anything, I’m trying not to be too hard on the local office,” she said, “but I expect a lot out of them.”

Catholic Charities’ Tennessee Office for Refugees and the Refugee Services office are completely separate, both in their roles and physical locations. The former has new offices on White Bridge Road near Charities’ administrative offices while the latter remains at Holy Name Church in East Nashville.

“The new office is purely administrative and the old Catholic Charities refugee office is purely in the business of providing direct services,” said Sinclair.

The Refugee Services office must apply to Johnson’s Tennessee Office for Refugees to receive federal grant money like any other religious or secular agency that assists refugees.

For example, the Catholic Charities Refugee Services offices was one of two agencies, out of five from Davidson County that applied, that the Tennessee Office for Refugees deemed the best fit to receive a “school impact” grant. “That will help provide school orientation for refugees who have never been in school before,” said Johnson. It will also fund teacher orientation training and after school and summer school programs for refugee youth. 

“The fun part of this job is being on the side where we give out money, and determine what some of the priorities are across the state,” Johnson said.

While some of the money handed down by the U.S. Office of Refugee Resettlement is pre-designated for specific needs, there is room for more creativity in areas like employee assistance. Getting input from refugees who are having trouble with their job search helps Johnson and her staff determine where to target grant money to help them overcome barriers to employment.

During her first year on the job, Johnson expects to make site monitoring visits to agencies that serve refugees and receive money from the ORR once per quarter. Criss-crossing the state from Knoxville to Chattanooga to Memphis and back to Nashville, Johnson will be learning what’s happening statewide and how to help all those who serve refugees work more effectively.

“We’ll help the programs that need help with specifics instead of with a broad brush,” Johnson said. “It’s really exciting,” she added.

New director fills post

Taking over Johnson’s old position as the director of Catholic Charities Refugee Services office is Kellye Branson, who was previously program coordinator of Child Welfare Services.

Nancy Salyer, who previously worked as a family and school counselor at the Catholic Charities office in Clarksville, will work alongside Branson as the new resettlement coordinator.

While Branson has had more than 20 years of experience working with children and families, working with refugees is a new experience for her.

“I’m learning a lot about different cultures and what it takes for refugees to operate within a totally new culture,” Branson said.

Branson started the new position in July, just in time for the busiest wave of refugee arrivals of the year. “It was a trial by fire,” she said of the last four months, during which Iraqi, Burmese, Burundi and Bhutanese refugees were resettled in Middle Tennessee.

According to Johnson, Nashville resettles more refugees than any other metro area in the state, followed by Memphis, then Knoxville and Chattanooga. “It’s been a busy year in Nashville and next year appears to be stronger than this one,” she said.

Nationwide, the Catholic Church has helped nearly 18,000 refugees resettle this year. That represents 30 percent of the more than 60,000 refugees admitted to the country during 2008.

Following the Sept. 11, 2001 terrorist attacks, there was a significant reduction in refugee admissions to the U.S., but refugee arrivals have been on an upward trend for the past several years. The United States Conference of Catholic Bishops has consistently advocated for increasing the number of refugee admissions into the United States.

Photo: Holly Johnson, Director, Tennessee Office for Refugees

Photos by Theresa Laurence
Jay Nigrelli, program assistant at Catholic Charities Refugee Services, hands candy to Zenabu Abdaiziz, 7, during a Halloween party at the Charities office.