The Women's program at the Agency for New Americans serves women from a wide range of demographics: Columbian, Somali, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Sudanese, Bhutanese, Burmese, Karen, Iraqi, Syrian, Afghani. The spirit of the program lies in providing women with a sense of inclusiveness, community, belonging and support during a time of great transition and acculturation. All classes are held with trauma informed practices in mind and come from a strengths based focus.  

 

Boise Metro obtained the $500 District 5400 grant that supports this special program for women refugees at Agency for New Americans. The facilitator of the program expressed a lot of gratitude for the financial support; it is really needed. They also need some volunteer support. The program meets on Tuesdays weekly from 12:30 to 3:00 pm (yes, it conflicts with our meeting time) from now until the last day on December 5th. I am hoping we can start having volunteers there on September 12th. Anyone volunteering must go through a one hour orientation on Tuesday, August 29th at 6pm at St. Steven's Episcopal Church at 2206 Cole Road, Boise. It would be great to have 1 to 3 volunteers from Rotary each week (they do have volunteers from other places as well). Volunteers can help with transportation, childcare, setting up/taking down the room. Female volunteers can sit in on the class and both support it and learn about women refugees. 

 

Depending on the wishes of our club and how this initial experience with this agency goes, I am hoping we might work towards obtaining a larger grant next year and work on a larger project with this refugee agency.