Announcements

URSW Needs Donations for New Hmong Refugees
We at United Refugee Services of WI (URSW) want to thank all those wonderfully generous people who have been calling to offer their very tangible support for the new Hmong refugees who will arrive from Wat Tham Krabok, Thailand during the coming months. We have just heard that the first three families (24 individuals) are slated to come as early as mid-July! Thanks to cell phones, many are in touch with their family members already.

So first, thank everyone for your wonderful generosity! Every day we receive more calls, asking how they can help too.

The most important ways are:
1) we need volunteer storage space for large items such as furniture and beds since we don't have enough space to store such items now! Then we'll need volunteer help to move the items to the storage site, but first things first.
2) The new Hmong will also need financial support while they look for work as quickly as possible in a very tight market for limited skilled workers.

Donations to assist with housing and other basic needs will make a great difference. URSW cannot do it along so we are asking for your support. Donations can be made through our web site, (click here), or by sending your check (made payable to URSW: New Hmong Refugee project) to our address: 312 North Third Street, Madison, WI. We are a 501(c)(3) non-profit and donations to this cause are tax-deductible.

Again thank you all for your generous response!

New Hmong/Lao Refugees in 2004

The Thai government is closing the last remaining Hmong/Lao refugee settlement, Wat Tham Krabok, which is home to about 15,000 now, half of whom are children. Most have been in Thai refugee camps since they escaped communist persecution in Laos in the years following the US withdrawal. For most, life in the camp is all they know—hardly any work to do, no land to farm, no support, no education to speak of. Now they must either return to an uncertain future in Laos or find somewhere to relocate.

Current estimates are that about 2500 may come to Wisconsin and about 50-70 family groups may join family members in Madison and Dane County, about 500 individuals. Though when and how many will arrive at any one time remains uncertain, the first arrivals are expected this summer and are likely to continue coming over the next several months.

These new arrivals, though they will have the support of others who have been here for many years, will nevertheless face significant challenges—learning American English for sure but also other cultural barriers as well. This is not likely to be an easy road, putting down roots in unfamiliar soil. The children will enter schools and the staff will have to handle sudden influx of small groups of students who will need all their help! City resources and health providers will also have to face address the needs of these new residents as well.

Follow the links below for more information from newspapers and other media to learn more about this situation.
The Capital Times: Hmong Refugees Find New Hope
Wausau Daily Herald: Mayoral Candidates Say Refugees Welcome

For more information contact ThajYing Lee, URSW Executive Director (256-6400 or thajyinglee@tds.net) or Arthur Upham (agupham@tds.net).

SSI Rules Impact On The Least Able

Any resident unable to find a job because of a disability can apply for SSI benefits, including refugees and asylees. However, in August, 1996, the federal government changed the rules. After that date, refugees have a seven year window within which they must become naturalized or loss any benefits they have been receiving (including medical assistance). But new arrivals must wait five years before they can apply to become naturalized—thus in effect, refugees have only two years to complete this process!

And those who qualify for and need the income SSI benefits bring are also the least able to work easily with all the paperwork and forms and officials that must be dealt with! Most who come to the US from a foreign land face barriers because of limited English but those receiving SSI often face even greater barriers because of their disabilities. And each year now, new cases will arise. URSW is working hard to help those in need work through the bureaucratic process and to help those in danger get the help they need.

To learn more, follow the links below for more information from newspapers and other media.
Center on Budget and Policy Priorities
CentreDaily/Associated Press
San Francisco Chronicle
Capital Times, Madison
The Miami Herald
Wisconsin State Journal

For more information or if you’d like to help, please contact ThajYing Lee, URSW Executive Director (256-6400 or thajyinglee@tds.net) or Arthur Upham (agupham@tds.net). If you would like to help, or make a donation to help these individuals, please contact URSW.

Vicky Selkowe, Neighborhood Law Project, has been leading a coalition of local agencies in responding to this situation (260-8299 or sselkowe@wisc.edu).

Hmong at Heart Exhibit at Madison Children's Museum

The Madison Children’s Museum, together with United Refugee Services of Wisconsin and KajSiab House, has developed an exhibit introducing children ages 5-12 to Hmong life and culture.

The exhibit opened to the public on Saturday, January 31, 2004 at the Children's Museum. A blessing ceremony for the Hmong community was held on January 29.

The exhibit space is divided into several sections: a general introduction to Hmong life and culture; then visitors walk into typical Hmong dwelling in a Lao village, then move into a Thai refugee camp scene and finally into life in the United States. Children will be able to get a sense of how dramatically different these experiences are.

Hmong at Heart is the first nationally touring exhibit focusing on Hmong culture ever produced for a youth audience.

The exhibit will remain in Madison through the Spring before moving around to several other museums across the country.

Click here for more information at the Madison Children's Museum website.