Career Paths with a Purpose
By Sophia Donis
For MO-ORA, Welcoming Week serves as a time for us to connect with others, embrace diversity in our communities and honor newcomers across the state. This year’s theme, “We’re All In”, underscores our commitment to champion refugees as they rebuild their lives in Missouri.
As we highlight the positive impact newcomers make on our communities, we also want to celebrate the contributions of our staff. Hear from four MO-ORA team members as they reflect on their career paths, share what they enjoy about their roles, and why they continue to embrace this work.
Where did you work before coming to MO-ORA?
I worked as the Director of Student Support Services for the Missouri Department of Elementary and Secondary Education (DESE). In the early 2000s, I started administering the Refugee School Impact program for the State. It was a very small grant, and depending on the numbers, we only worked with two to three school districts at a time. Although I’ve been with MO-ORA for two years, I’ve been doing the Refugee School Impact program for a lot longer.
How is the RSI program different at MO-ORA compared to when it was at DESE?
When I was at DESE, I was also overseeing the migrant education program, English learning programs, the homeless program, and I was the State’s foster care point of contact. So, as you can imagine, I didn’t have time to dedicate to all of them the way they needed. Now, my time is strictly devoted to helping the refugee populations and the schools that serve those populations. It just makes it so much better to focus on more and do more.
What does communication with the schools look like?
Generally, it’s them asking me questions, but it also depends on the time of year and what the issue is. In February, we start collecting data on each district’s numbers, talking to them about who refugees are and how to identify them. School districts are in a unique situation where they’re asked to work with different groups of people, like English learners, refugees and immigrants, but they aren’t allowed to ask about their immigration status. So, it becomes a training opportunity to talk with the schools about how they can identify their refugee populations. As we get closer to the start of the school year, I discuss how to deliver services and let them know what other resources are available to them.
What do you enjoy about working at MO-ORA?
I’ve been very happy with the way the St. Louis and Kansas City offices include me in meetings and are willing to talk. It’s been different for me leaving an office where there were people around all the time to working from home. The team is fantastic, and we all have a concentrated focus on helping people, which is just great.
When did you first take an interest in resettlement?
Right before I started at a local resettlement agency, I was at Jewish Family Services doing language support for Russian speaking adults. So that was my first step into working more broadly with refugees and the non-profit space. My father and his family came to Kansas City as refugees, so I was always aware of resettlement and intrigued by it, and then it came full circle with working in resettlement.
What was your experience like working at a local resettlement agency (LRA)?
It was a very different pace. It was a constantly shifting, evolving, beautiful chaos. Some parts of me miss the action, but I’m grateful to have a more relaxed role now. [Refugee Support Services] was always a big program with over 100 clients enrolled, and we were always enrolling new clients, so it was nonstop. It wasn’t just checking a box and moving on.
What do you enjoy most about working at MO-ORA?
I like the state-level view of learning about other programs across Missouri and the things people are doing. I was at the micro level before, and now I’m at the macro level, so the puzzle is coming together, and I think it’s helpful to see things from both perspectives. I also like the different aspects of helping the local resettlement agencies with resources and training direct service providers. I really enjoy if someone has a problem, I can make that connection, facilitate a relationship with them, and then I get to see the results of that work.
What was it like being resettled by the International Institute of St. Louis (IISTL)?
My wife and I came to St. Louis on May 15, 2019. I wanted to come here because my brother and mother were already here. I didn’t have plans for finding a job, but I did want to continue my studies. I went to IISTL for Reception & Placement and got help from them for the first 90 days. Their main goal was finding me a job. Someone at IISTL told me about the IT position at MO-ORA, so I applied, had my interview, and my first day was June 17, 2019.
What do you enjoy about working in IT?
I worked in IT for 9 years in Afghanistan and when you’re working there, you’re in charge of fixing everything: printers, scanners, cell phones, computers. Here in the U.S., it’s different. Your job is only fixing one or two things. Right now, I do ClientTrack, SharePoint and computers. I like my job. When I solve someone’s problem, it makes me feel good.
As someone who has gone through the resettlement process, how does it feel to work in resettlement?
Since I’m an immigrant, it means a lot to me. IISTL and the other agencies are doing so much to help refugees and immigrants. I like that we help people, and it’s a lot better than working at a commercial office.
When did you first take an interest in resettlement?
In 2016, I was backpacking and volunteering in northern India and was working with a large Tibetan population there. They had been exiled from Tibet, and it was really when I started to ask myself ‘What does it mean to be displaced?’. Being exiled is different than being displaced, but that was really when I started to reflect on displacement and want to learn more about it. After that, I did my senior project on the Bosnian population in St. Louis and went on to get my Masters in Refugee and Forced Migration Studies at DePaul University.
What was your experience like working at a local resettlement agency (LRA) in Chicago?
I started on the day the U.S. evacuation started in Afghanistan, and we were just sitting there watching the news, and I thought ‘I really picked a good time to join resettlement and learn.’ Working as a Housing Coordinator was very hard. There is not only the issue of housing availability, but it’s also more expensive to live in Chicago compared to other places. I’m responsible if a family doesn’t have a roof over their head. That weight on your shoulders and constant worry leads to burnout. The Ethiopian Community Association (ECAC) was a very small LRA, and when the Afghans started being resettled, we just kept increasing our numbers and resettled 400 Afghans alone that year. It was a lot, but I loved my team and the culture fostered at ECAC.
Why have you continued to work in the resettlement field?
It’s an environment and a community that I love, and I want to stay in this industry for a long time. I see resettlement like an anthropological study, and it helps me feel close to those roots. Anthropology is the study of culture and humans, and there is no better way to look at that than working with this population and other vulnerable populations. I also want to continue working in resettlement to push for services and programs to be better across the United States. I think a lot of people working in this space would agree that they want to see that shift.
What has your experience been like working on a large program like Refugee Cash Assistance (RCA)?
I think it’s a great place to start working at the state level. It’s a good way to understand benefits, immigration statuses and eligibility requirements. It’s fast-paced, which you might not think because you see us sitting at computers all day long. Resettlement is an ever-changing field, and you have to constantly adapt, and I think that speaks to my dedication.