Blue Earth County Employment Services
Blue Earth County Employment Services (BECES) is a department of MRCI Work Source. Under contract with Blue Earth, Steele and Brown counties, MRCI provides employment services for the Minnesota Family Investment Program (MFIP) and Diversionary Work Program (DWP) serving families applying for public assistance. BECES works closely with job seekers by providing them with education, job placement, and job retention assistance.
In addition to providing employment services, BECES operates customized social service and employment service programs for refugee individuals and families. These programs are tailored specifically for refugees with concentration on job placement, family stabilization, and resettlement services.
For more information, please visit: https://rpo.dhs.state.mn.us/.
Catholic Charities
· Hispanic Outreach
Hispanic Outreach serves those most in need in the Spanish-speaking Latino community.
· Immigration Services
Assistance with immigration forms, paperwork and applications for refugees and immigrants.
· Reception and Placement
Case management and refugee resettlement service for refugees arriving through the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops or other refugees and asylees.
· Refugee Cash Assistance
Employment resources and financial resources for refugees within eight months of their arrival in Minnesota.
CEAP (Community Emergency Assistance Program)
Family Services are offered to prevent crisis from occurring by providing food, clothing, financial assistance, and other emergency services to families living in CEAP's service areas.
Programs:
· Back to School Program
· Clothing Closet
· Community Advocacy
· Transportation Solutions Car Loan Program
· Financial Assistance
· Food Shelf (appointment required)
· Information and Resources Referral
· MAC (Mothers and Children) Nutrition Program
· WIC (Women, Infants & Children Program)
· Welfare-To-Work Transportation Program
For more information, please visit: http://www.ceap.com/index.php.
Center for Families
The Center for Families in Minneapolis helps families, especially those emigrating from West Africa, plant strong, new roots in the Twin Cities. Many services are free of charge or offered at reduced rates. The Center for Families respects all cultures and experiences and offers services such as:
•Job training
•Help with locating housing
•Mental health services
•Health screenings and referrals
•Weekly parent-child play groups to prepare pre-schoolers for learning
For more information, please visit: http://centerforfamilies.gmcc.org/.
Circles of Support
Circles of Support is based on the idea that people need to have enough money, meaning, and friends to feel secure and fulfilled in life. Having enough money means that someone can sufficiently live on that money, without having to put one necessity over another. Meaning is when someone knows that his/her gifts and talents are valued in the community. Friends are the people that rally around and support someone in good times and difficult times. Everyone needs friendship relationships in their life.
This program is also based on the idea of reciprocity. Any involvement in Circles of Support by a low-income family participant includes a reciprocity agreement, in which the participant gives back to the community based on his/her gifts and talents. Therefore, Circles of Support is not a hand-out program for the needy. Instead, the belief is that everyone has gifts and talents that can contribute to the overall task of ending poverty in the community and add to the leadership skills and resources of the community they live in.
The Circles of Support approach is one of building effective relationships across race and class lines. People who would normally not associate with each other are coming together to support and encourage one another. When there are enough effective relationships built across socio-economic class lines, there will be an end to poverty.
For more information, please visit: http://www.wcainc.org/circlesofsupport/.
CLUES
CLUES (Comunidades Latinoas Unidas en Servicio) is Minnesota’s premier provider of behavioral health and human services to the Latino community. A community builder and a catalyst for change, CLUES provides services that advance and enhance the quality of Latino’s lives in Minnesota. CLUES provides a continuum of core services:
· Family Services
· Employment Services
For more information, please visit: http://www.clues.org/.
Community Action Center of Northfield
The Community Action Center of Northfield provides services to neighbors in need and makes a difference in the lives of families and individuals. They meet basic needs such as food, clothing, and shelter, and provide crisis support, transportation, and services designed to facilitate neighbors helping neighbors.
· Feeding the Hungry
· Clothing Those in Need
· Creating Homes
· Giving Hope to People in Crisis
· Nurturing the Next Generation
· Transportation Solutions
· Establishing Roots
For more information, please visit: http://communityactioncenter.org/.
Episcopal Community Services
Episcopal Community Services (ECS) provides individualized, comprehensive services to individuals and low-income families working to gain stability in employment, housing, and family life. ECS provides the following services:
· Family Resource Centers
· Ready for Success
· Ready for Success Men’s Program
· Supportive Housing Program
For more information, please visit: http://www.ecsmn.org/.
Heartland Community Action Agency, Inc.
Heartland Community Action Agency, Inc. works to eliminate poverty and advocate for low-income families. Heartland offers the following services:
· Energy assistance
· FAIM
· Housing assistance
· Head Start
· Child care assistance/referrals
· Transportation loans
For more information, please visit: http://www.heartlandcaa.org/.
Interpreting (Sally White)
Sally White was an Immigration Court staff interpreter for almost 8 years, and is very interested in helping MN accept its immigrant population.
For more information, please contact Sally at sallywhi@comcast.net.
Lutheran Social Service
LSS Refugee Services provides various types of assistance to refugees upon their arrival in Minnesota. The services include:
Refugee Resettlement Services: During the first three months after a refugee arrives in the United States, LSS Refugee Services offers services to help refugees adapt to their new home.
Family Reunification: LSS Refugee Services offers assistance in filling family reunification forms, such as Affidavits of Relationship (AORs).
Immigration Services: LSS Refugee Services assists refugees and asylees in filing certain immigration forms, including work permits, replacement I-94s, Refugee/Asylee Visas, FOIA requests, travel documents, Green Card applications, and assorted immigration queries.
Family Savings Accounts: LSS Refugee Services, in partnership with Faith in the City, offers refugees and asylees the opportunity to receive up to $4000 to use for home ownership, small businesses, or education.
Matching Grant Program: This program offers assistance to refugees and asylees as they seek to become self-sufficient through employment.
Refugee Cash Assistance: This program, offered to refugees who are single or married and do not have children, provides assistance for the first eight months after a refugee arrives in the United States.
Campaign for Refugee Families: Join the effort to raisie money for LSS Refugee Services.
For more information, please visit: http://www.lssmn.org/lss/refugee_services.htm.
Minnesota Council of Churches
Minnesota Council of Churches’ (MCC) Refugee Services is an ecumenical ministry welcoming persecuted people from around the world into new lives of freedom, hope, and opportunity in Minnesota.
All of the projects at Refugee Services are organized into four lines of service:
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Case Management: Empowering individuals and families through supportive services
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Employment Services: Working with clients to seek, secure and maintain appropriate employment
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Immigration Services: Assisting individuals and families progress on the path towards citizenship
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Education: Supporting clients and the Twin Cities community through education
For more information, please visit: http://www.mnchurches.org/programs/directservices/refugeservices.html.
Minnesota Housing
As the State's affordable housing bank, Minnesota Housing offers products and services to help Minnesotans buy and fix up homes. Minnesota Housing also supports the development and preservation of affordable rental housing by offering financing and on-going asset management of affordable rental housing developments.
For more information about these services, please visit: http://www.mnhousing.gov/index.aspx.
Neighborhood House
Neighborhood House works with participants to assess their basic family needs and identify how to obtain them. Neighborhood House services include the culturally competent Food Shelf, Asian Meals on Wheels, Family Support and Refugee Resettlement. When the needs identified are not provided by Neighborhood House, referrals to other organizations are provided.
For more information, please visit: http://www.neighb.org/.
Retired & Senior Volunteer Program
The RSVP Program provides an opportunity for volunteers to put their skills, talents, and life experiences into motion for others – and benefit our Minnesota communities in the process. Using their personal interests and skills, RSVP volunteers may continue the type of work they enjoyed earlier in life, or opt to try something new. By providing community services such as tutoring at-risk youth or testing water pollution, RSVP volunteers meet needs that local budgets often cannot afford.
For more information, please visit: http://www.mnseniorcorps.org/prog_rsvp.htm.
Somali Community Services, Inc.
Somali Community Services, Inc. offers services to the Somali community in the Faribault area.
For more information, please contact Hashi Geedi at 507-331-3177 or kooreeye65@hotmail.com.
Southeast Asian Ministry
Southeast Asian Ministry (SeAM) is a faith-based ministry serving as a catalyst to empower refugees and immigrants, and it offers the following programs:
Christmas Friendship
Every Christmas, SeAM connects newly arrived refugee families with sponsors, who bring them warm winter clothing and other gifts.
Refugee Employment Services
SeAM's Refugee Employment Counselor serves recently arrived refugees to help them find jobs and navigate the American social system.
Quilt Distribution
SeAM distributes quilts and blankets to refugee families to help them stay warm in the winter, especially those who are new to Minnesota.
For more information, please visit: http://www.seam-stpaul.org/.
Vision for Families and Community Collaborative
Vision for Families and Community Collaborative is a family services collaborative in St. James through the Minnesota Department of Human Services.
For more information, please contact DeeAnn Gieseke at 507-227-7733 or dgieseke@stjames.k12.mn.us.
Volunteer Income Tax Assistance
Volunteer Income Tax Assistance (VITA) sites provide qualifying filers with free tax help in completing their income tax forms. Most sites also provide free e-filing and refunds are typically available within 10 days. Sites may also provide information and access to banking, financial education, Individual Development Accounts (IDAs), home buying programs, and small business opportunities.
For more information, please contact Richard Som at 651-556-6613 or richard.som@state.mn.us, or please visit: www.taxes.state.mn.us.
Welcome Center, Inc. (Austin)
The Welcome Center works to connect newcomers to the resources and information that will facilitate their becoming a vital part of our community, and to provide programs and services that will promote self-sufficiency and multicultural understanding.
The Welcome Center offers the following programs:
· Care Advocacy connects Welcome Center clients with necessary community resources to address medical, social, community, legal, financial, educational, and other needs. Services include a brief assessment of immediate needs followed by advice and assistance in obtaining the resources to meet those needs.
· Economic Self-Sufficiency programming helps newcomers acquire the skills necessary to secure gainful employment, manage finances, and become homeowners. Staff works in partnership with other community programs to offer classes and workshops on financial literacy, job skills, and other topics.
For more information, please visit: http://www.austinwelcomecenter.org/.
World Relief Minnesota
World Relief Minnesota (WRM) is a Christian non-profit agency dedicated to the Cause of the Refugee. WRM offers the following client services:
For more information on these services, please visit: http://www.worldreliefmn.org/.