Imagine being forced to leave your home and move to another country. You have little or no choice in choosing the country you’re going to, and you don’t know the language or what the culture is like. Your job skills may not be transferable to the local economy where you’re going. Even the food is completely foreign to you.

This is just the tip of the iceberg for many refugees arriving in Dayton. Part of CSSMV’s job is to help new arrivals become familiar with things like the public school system, transportation systems, shopping centers, local currency, budgeting, and strange new social norms.

Many of our new arrivals are multi-lingual, but English may not be one of the languages they know. And some are illiterate, even in their primary languages. Linking adults and children with ESOL classes (English for Speakers of Other Languages) and school-based resources is one of our first steps.

The goal is to help refugee individuals and families assimilate into our community while maintaining their own culture and heritage.

For refugees, employment is a vital step toward achieving self-sufficiency. New arrivals are eager to build strong foundations for themselves and their families here in the Miami Valley.

Refugees are legally allowed to work immediately upon their arrival in the United States. Our refugee resettlement team works with each individual to assess their existing skills, help them with resumes and job applications, provide job readiness training, and help manage expectations.

We also work closely with local employers, to match job skills to the employers’ needs and help ensure a positive experience for the business as well as the new employee.

Our program boasts an high employment rate within the first year of resettlement. That means within about six to nine months, most people are entering their first job after coming to Dayton. And it takes about that much time — six months of English classes, six months of employment and job skills training. We also see many of the refugees taking the same paths that many American-born citizens do, seeking job upgrades after a year and attaining second employment.

If you are a Dayton-area employer who would like to learn more about hiring refugees, call (937) 223-7217 and ask to talk with a refugee employment specialist.

“Attracting capable, reliable workers is a significant challenge and we are thrilled that we have been able to support the refugee community while at the same time meeting the needs of Dayton’s employers.”    — Tom Maher, President & CEO, Manpower of Dayton

While each person’s needs are unique, there are key types of community resources that are beneficial to most of the individuals and families we serve. Our refugee resettlement team has worked diligently to build great relationships with local partners and help them understand how to best serve this vulnerable population. Our case managers connect their clients directly with the appropriate community resources to assist with things like:

• Medical care and establishing a medical home
• Mental health and trauma counseling
• Job skills training
• Tutoring for children and adults
• School enrollment
• Case planning for self-sufficiency