Making the Case & Expanding Opportunities March 18, 2015 Photo - - PowerPoint PPT Presentation
Refugee Economic Contributions: Making the Case & Expanding Opportunities March 18, 2015 Photo Credit: Nebraska is Home Fostering Community Engagement and Welcoming Communities is supported by the Office of Refugee Resettlement
Fostering Community Engagement and Welcoming Communities is supported by the Office of Refugee Resettlement (ORR/ACF/DHHS)
March 18, 2015
Photo Credit: Nebraska is Home
Susan Downs-Karkos, Welcoming America
Steve Tobocman, Global Detroit
Danielle Drake, US Together
Sisay Teklu, Community Enterprises Development Services
FOUNDED BY CHILDREN OF IMMIGRANTS
FOUNDED BY IMMIGRANTS
“NEW AMERICAN” COMPANIES
SOURCE: Partnership Report, “The New American Fortune 500,” June 2011.
– 50% of all new U.S. Ph.D.s in engineering; – 45% of all new U.S. Ph.D.s in life sciences, physical sciences, and computer sciences; – 40% of all new U.S. master degrees in computer sciences, physical sciences, and engineering; and – 25% of all practicing physicians
IMPRINT is a national coalition
advancing opportunities for skilled immigrants. IMPRINT: Advocates for effective policies to support workforce integration at the national, state, and local level Disseminates promising practices and new resources for practitioners www.imprintproject.org
MEMBER ORGANIZATIONS Community College Consortium for Immigrant Education www.cccie.org Upwardly Global www.upwardlyglobal.org World Education Services www.wes.org/gtb Welcoming Center for New Pennsylvanians www.welcomingcenter.org Welcome Back Initiative www.welcomebackinitiative.org
Source: Partnership and American Enterprise Institute Report, “Immigration and American Jobs,” December 2012.
Danielle Drake ddrake@ustogether.us
The Refugee Services Collaborative of Greater
Cleveland (RSC) grew out of years of dialogue among the many refugee service agencies.
Formed in 2011, the RSC launched a full calendar
generous Cleveland Foundation grant. This grant enabled the collaborative to deepen and broaden its work together with monthly hands-on meetings, professional development, collection and sharing of benchmark data, and commissioning of an economic impact study.
The RSC now has 14 member
refugee resettlement agencies. The RSC’s focus is to coordinate the work of its member agencies, which includes capacity building across organizations as an integral part of this process.
Paid for by a grant from the Cleveland
Foundation
Conducted by Chmura Economics &
Analytics
For calendar year 2012
Three resettlement agencies spend about
$4.8 million a year helping refugees to start new lives in the Cleveland area. From that investment of mostly federal dollars comes an annual economic impact of nearly $50 million.
Refugees placed in the Cleveland area
typically find employment within five months of their arrival in the country despite the fact that many lack English proficiency.
Cleveland's refugee families tend to
attain self-sufficiency sooner than refugees in other cities.
Refugees find jobs! About 75 percent of
Cuyahoga county’s refugees over age 16 are employed, compared to 57 percent
Refugees are 23 percent more likely to
start a business than native-born residents and have started more than 40 small businesses in CLE in the last decade.
Refugees tend to put down roots and
spark secondary migrations, attracting
About 250 refugees have bought houses in the area.
Refugees are thriving in Cleveland and
are at or above average compared to national norms in socioeconomic integration.
The member organizations of the RSC
spent an estimated total of $4.8 million on refugee services in 2012.
The total economic impact of refugees in
the Cleveland area was estimated at $48 million and 650 jobs for 2012.
The total fiscal impact of refugees in the
Cleveland area was estimated at $2.7 million in tax revenue to local and state governments in 2012.
10 to 1 Return on Investment?! "These are on par with venture capital
type returns," Daniel Meges (economist who led the research)
October 2013 – Press Release stating the
findings of the economic impact study
June 2014 - RSC receives additional grant
money funding for Public Awareness campaign
October 2014 – Refugee Summit Held at
Cleveland City Hall
As of January 2015, there are 53 active
foreclosures.
There are 145 vacant properties; 88 of
which are condemned.
Through a collaborative effort with the
City of Cleveland, these properties will be pushed to demolition and condemnation while engaging in a program to acquire 20 vacant and abandoned homes each year within the targeted area.
These properties will then be marketed to
a group of pre-screened investors with a sales price of $5,000.
A subsidy of $30,000 from the City of
Cleveland is being requested to aid with the rehabilitation. Upon completion of the rehabilitation, investors will be required to rent to refugees through a restrictive covenant.
Through the collaborative effort of the
Stockyard, Clark-Fulton & Brooklyn Centre Community Development Office and its partners, wrap around services will be provided to both investors and refugees to provide support to both parties.
CLeveland Councilmen Councilman Joe Cimperman Ward 3 Councilman Brian Cummins Ward 14 Councilman Matt Zone Ward 15
February 2015 – Meeting with Director of
Economic Development
Additional Money granted to ECDI
specifically for refugees to start businesses
Money granted to commission creation of
a 5 year Strategic Plan for the Dream Neighborhood
Public Awareness Campaign Films highlighting Refugee Success stories June 20th – World Refugee Day
Celebration
Speaking Engagements Meeting with
funders/donors/mentors/volunteers
Create Dream Neighborhoods in others
area of Cleveland
www.RSCcleveland.org Danielle Drake ddrake@ustogether.us
SISAY TEKLU EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR Email: steklu@cedsfinance.org Website: www.cedsfinance.org
The Mission of Community Enterprise
Our clients are coming from all over the World
Borrowers' Profile
Borrowers are newcomers (refugees) from all over the World Types of business: transport, ethnic grocery and restaurant, day care, beauty salon, accounting service, Auto shop, etc Amount of investment: not more than $50,000.00 Employment: basically self employment
OUTCOMES
Average earning before starting business $9.00/hour ($9.00 *40 hours*4 weeks*12 months = $17,280). Earning after starting business taking taxi cab business as example: $5000.00/month *12= $60,000.00 (gross income) The refugee entrepreneur becomes self-employed & tax payer.
We work with
Daycare and Home Health Care Providers Taxi/Uber/Truck drivers Store and Restaurant Owners Professional services – Accountants, IT , etc Cleaning Service Providers Hairstylists Auto Mechanics ……………… and MORE!
Uber Taxi Ethnic Restaurant
Hood Cleaning
Insurance Business
Disbursed in total 60 loans in the amount of $685,000 (2011 – 2014) Maintained 100% loan repayment. HOW?
Pre loan and post loan TA, including training
Quality loan underwriting
Personal relationship with each borrower
Presence in the community – be active in the community
Effective usage of co-signers and references
Encourage borrowers for another round loan
Follow latest developments – change and intent to change or quit business
and be flexible to accommodate.
Know your limits and support clients to “graduate” from micro-loan
The goal of the refugee IDA program is to help low-income refugee individuals and families attain economic/financial self-sufficiency through behavioral change from consumption on impulse to prudent savings and investing to acquire assets and/or acquire skills.
What Resources needed Objective limitations Income to own assets *$5000 to own vehicle *$5000 to be pharmacy technician *$10,000 to own taxi cab business *$5500 to own home Covering the specified costs for a recently arrived working refugee is almost impossible. A minimum wage of $8.23/hr. is barely enough to cover basic needs let alone to own assets Financial education and TA Access to mainstream financial education and technical assistance resources Without culturally and linguistically appropriate financial education and TA a recently arrived refugee cannot benefit from available mainstream services. Access to finance Access to mainstream loan capital to acquire wealth enabling assets Recently arrived refugees can’t get access to finance due to lack of equity, credit history, collateral, and business work experience in the US, coupled with linguistic and cultural limitations.
What IDA Program Intervention Additional Resources Income to
IDA saving and matching: $5000 to own private vehicle $4500 pharmacy technician certificate $10,000 to own taxi cab business $5500 to own home Vehicle: to be purchased by combining IDA matched savings and low interest lending partners. Education: the total of matching and saving can cover the program cost. Financial aid is available if necessary Business: our micro loan program is a key catalyst to promote business and cover the difference Home: an amount above the total of saving and matching can be covered by Colorado Housing and Finance Authority (CHAFA) and sometimes by seller Training and TA Community Enterprise is equipped and uses customized, culturally and linguistically appropriate curriculum and trainers. Community Enterprise will leverage its existing base of trained volunteer financial education and asset goal trainers. Access to finance Refugees can predominantly cover the need for finance from the total of their IDA savings and matching. Our micro-loan program is positioned to finance business asset goals.
Vehicle- 39% Business-27% Home-17% Education- 17%
Vehicle Business Home Education
2010 – 2014 - Assisted 310 low income refugees to own assets (53
homes, 83 businesses, 52 education and 122 vehicles)
$930,000 clients’ savings available for matching Amount of money mobilized in the economy
$10,140,000
18 refugees were also borrowers of the micro-
enterprise loan (Synergy I)
9 women refugees who bought homes are also
enrolled in the home based childcare (Synergy II)
Home based child care
Objectives Train and incentivize refugee women and men to establish high- quality, licensed childcare businesses that promote healthy child development behaviors and create well-paying self-employment
Link newly arrived refugee parents with culturally appropriate childcare businesses, thereby allowing them to seek employment
Current Performance and challenges CEDS has 14 licensed home based childcare businesses. 21 enrolled clients are in the process to be licensed Challenge: all childcare program clients are recently
arrived, culturally different and low academic
“walk” clients through the licensing process.
Strict rules and regulations: Colorado’s strict childcare
rules and regulations is a major factor for many refugee clients not to be eligible.
As compared to other ventures, childcare service is
financially not attractive.
Learning Area - Licensed Learning Area - Licensed Infant Area Licensed Parent Communication Licensed
SISAY TEKLU EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR Email: steklu@cedsfinance.org Website: www.cedsfinance.org
We Global Network Resources - http://www.weglobalnetwork.org/research/ Global Detroit Resources - http://www.globaldetroit.com/research/ Economic Impact of Refugees in the Cleveland Area Report - http://rsccleveland.org/wp- content/uploads/2013/10/ClevelandRefugeeEconomic-Impact.pdf IDA Practitioner’s Guide, ISED solutions http://www.isedsolutions.org/publications/refugee-ida/ida- practitoners-guide-forms
Welcoming Refugees Website – www.welcomingrefugees.org Coming Soon - A Guide to Immigrant Economic Development Toolkit
Fostering Community Engagement and Welcoming Communities is supported by the Office of Refugee Resettlement (ORR/ACF/DHHS)