They’re Charlotte’s invisible minority. They work, send their children to school and keep to themselves. They’re immigrants, but they rarely make it on the news. They are Charlotte-Mecklenburg’s refugees and asylees, many of whom fled their countries for fear of persecution. They are internationals and among those who make up Charlotte’s diverse population.
For more than two years, Crossroads Charlotte has been involved in a collaborative community engagement effort with the Immigrant, Refugee, Asylee and International (IRAI) communities and a wide range of service provider agencies/groups that support them to increase access for all and build trust in the community. During this time, many recurring “access-related” themes emerged from the sessions.
In response, Crossroads Charlotte teamed with community organizations who work with Charlotte’s IRAIs to spotlight access issues and opportunities for the IRAI communities. The result, Many Cultures One Community, consists of workshops and other events to increase community awareness and trust. The finale will be a community event on Dec. 3 to highlight the most relevant topics and resources for the IRAI communities. During the community-wide culminating event, which will be at Northwest School of the Arts, Crossroads Charlotte in partnership with Mecklenburg Area Partnership for Primary-care Research (MAPPR), Community Building Initiative (CBI), and Community Relations Committee (CRC), will unveil an online portal for services and organizations serving, in part, the IRAI communities.
Many Cultures One Community will be an opportunity to assess the needs of Charlotte’s IRAIs and to help them become more integrated into the larger Charlotte communities, said Ana Lucia Divins, project consultant. The initiative will also educate everyone about the importance, relevance and existence of Charlotte’s IRAI communities many of which keep to themselves.
“We have a lot of silos working and serving the community,” Divins said. “It was important to connect the dots.”
Added Ellen Dubin, executive director of Carolina Refugee Resettlement Agency, “We would like the Charlotte community to know that there are refugees here and that there are ways members of the community can help whether they do it individually or through a church, an organization (or) a company.”
Charlotte averages at least 600 refugees and asylee resettlements a year, Dubin said. She estimates more than 3,000 refugees and asylees have moved here since 1996.
“Refugees and asylees are among the most vulnerable populations in Charlotte,” Dubin said. “Most arrive with little or nothing, speak little English and don’t have relevant job skills.”
Each week of Many Cultures One Community has a different theme focusing on areas of access and trust in relation to the IRAI communities. This week’s theme is “Using the Arts to Build Trust.” Week two will be “Accessing Key Services.” Week three will be “Accessing Political Power and Increasing Civic Engagement Understanding.” Week four will examine how Charlotte’s IRAI communities celebrate American holidays. And week five’s theme will be “Accessing One Another.” It will include a community bus tour through Charlotte’s IRAI gathering spaces. The culminating community-wide event will be Dec. 3 at Northwest School of the Arts.
To learn more about Many Cultures One Community events, visit www.crossroadscharlotte.org/manycultures. To register for any of the upcoming events/programs, email info@crossroadscharlotte.org or call (704) 973-4546.
