(Hours 3a,b,c) Rich spoke to Jeff Thielman, President and CEO of the International Institute of New England. Jeff started by talking about refugee resettlement within the Queen City, before answering Rich’s question about how they find the refugees that they work with. They then talked about the reception and placement period in addition to federal assistance eligibility. Finally, they heard feedback from a local landlord, talked about cultural orientation classes and discussed employment assistance and statistics.
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teach them how to live in an appartment (cultural orientation classes.) employment statistics (and assistance)
(Hour 3b) As Rich and Jeff continued Rich asked him about the mentality of refugees who expect handouts. They discussed long-term employment statistics, the allocation of refugees and the cultural impact of the refugee settlement on the community.
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(Hour 3c) Rich asked Jeff about the cultural challenges of trying to police such a diverse community. They discussed the language barrier and the stress that this subject is placing on the community. They then got into more specific details regarding assistance that is provided for the refugees and Rich questioned the motive behind placing more refugees in Manchester than in the much larger city of Boston.
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