FACES OF RELIEF. World Relief, a Christian humanitarian organization, has operated in the Fox Valley area of Wisconsin for 11 years and recently opened an office in Eau Claire. Volunteers and refugees who settled in the Fox Valley are shown in this file photo. (Submitted photo)

In the coming weeks, a faith-based humanitarian organization and a host of volunteers are preparing to greet the first of about 75 refugees expected to arrive in the Eau Claire area over the coming year.

“We’re making connections with landlords and employers to build relationships and provide resources to them,” Jodi Jewell, the local community engagement specialist for World Relief, said in an interview in mid-January. “We’ve been in communication with community partners and social service programs. We’re connecting with community members and churches, and all of this is so our new arrivals have a support system in place to navigate a new community and build relationships.”

Jewell is one of five staff members at the recently established Chippewa Valley office of World Relief, an evangelical Christian nongovernmental organization (NGO) that works with the federal government to help resettle refugees in the United States.

Refugees typically arrive as family units or as individuals, and the organization expects to receive relatively short notice that they are coming. However, it’s ready to receive the first refugees within weeks.

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We’re connecting with community members and churches, and all of this is so our new arrivals have a support system in place to navigate a new community and build relationships.

JODI JEWELL

community engagement specialist, world relief

World Relief has been busy training volunteers from the community who promise to “walk alongside” the newcomers for at least six months. Teams of six to 10 volunteers will be assigned to each refugee household, and will help them with a variety of needs, including setting up their new apartments, getting to appointments, and navigating American grocery stores.

The organization will also help the newcomers acclimate to American culture, access transportation, enroll in English language classes, and more – including finding employment. Refugees, World Relief representatives explain, are legally eligible to work from day one.

“They want to work. They’ve been in a state of flux for a long time, and they want to provide for their families,” Jewell said.

As of early January, at least four local employers had expressed interested providing newcomers with skills training, while even more are interested in hiring them, said Nicole Klingenberg, an employment specialist with World Relief.

World Relief plans to support the broader community as well, Jewell said, in part by meeting consistently with community partners such as the school district, public safety departments, the health department, and others, to discuss issues related to the refugees.   

Representatives of the organization acknowledge that some local residents have questions about the refugee process and may be wary. In fact, the backlash over the refugees’ pending arrive has led to several public demonstrations, an anti-immigrant billboard, and at least one bill in the state Legislature that would require local governments to be notified if refugees might be resettled with a 100-mile radius.

“We are here and we’re willing to have discussions, we’re willing to answer questions, but we also do need to protect the people coming here and make sure that they have a certain level of anonymity,” Klingenberg said.

Eau Claire is a kind and welcoming community, and we feel confident that these refugees will be welcome into the Eau Claire area community with open arms.

Nicole Klingenberg

employment specialist, world relief

By definition, refugees are people who have fled their country of original because of a well-founded fear for their safety due to their race, religion, political belief, national origin, or social group. Publicizing specific refugees’ whereabouts can put them in danger and also endanger the lives of relatives who were left behind, who might face retribution, Jewell said.

Before they are paired with an agency such as World Relief to be resettled in the United States, refugees are vetted overseas by multiple federal agencies, including the Department of Homeland Security and the FBI, a process that can take years.

As refugees are approved by the federal government, they are assigned to one of the 10 NGOs, including World Relief. At the national level, those organizations decide which regional offices will be assigned which refugees.

Under federal law, the president sets the ceiling for the number of refugees that can be allowed in the United States annually. This year, the number is 125,000 – or one-third of 1% of the 35 million refugees in the world.

Whether they decide to volunteer to assist refugees or not, Klingenberg encouraged Chippewa Valley residents to treat their new neighbors with kindness and patience.

“Eau Claire is a kind and welcoming community, and we feel confident that these refugees will be welcome into the Eau Claire area community with open arms,” Klingenberg said.

To learn more about World Relief and its local activities, including a list of frequently asked questions, visit worldrelief.org/wisconsin/about-us-chippewa-valley.