Philanthropy Today
Philanthropy Today
Manhattan Area Resettlement Team on the GMCF Community Hour Show Episode - 318
Use Left/Right to seek, Home/End to jump to start or end. Hold shift to jump forward or backward.
We talk with Virginia Rodriguez of the Manhattan Area Resettlement Team about what it really takes to help refugees build stable lives in Manhattan and the surrounding area. We also dig into how fast changing policies and public narratives are shaping fear, opportunity, and day to day reality for the families MART serves.
• MART’s role as a refugee resettlement agency serving a 50 mile radius around Manhattan
• How a volunteer led Afghan resettlement effort grew into a staffed organization
• Behind the scenes work at the Damon Runyon House headquarters and why paperwork drives the process
• Policy shifts affecting refugees including SNAP cuts and upcoming Medicaid changes
• Legal status realities alongside rising fear of deportation
• Washington Post reporting focus on human stories and Afghan women’s lived experience
• The Estherbrook Scholarship and why higher education support matters
• Volunteer needs including a volunteer coordinator and an English buddy style community connection
send us an email to infoallieswelcome.com
Sponsor And Segment Setup
SPEAKER_01Philanthropy Today is brought to you by the Greater Manhattan Community Foundation. In this episode, we feature a recently broadcast segment of the GMCF Community Hour, as heard on News Radio KMAN.
Meet MART And Its Mission
SPEAKER_01We are back to GMCF Community Hour on News Radio KMAN, and um we have Virginia Rodriguez coming in and joining us here. Hello there.
SPEAKER_00Hi, Dave. How are you today?
SPEAKER_01I'm great. It's Monday. Don't you love doing radio first thing in the morning on a Monday?
SPEAKER_00It looks like that's gonna be a promise in a week.
SPEAKER_01So I'm glad I could be a part of the kickoff. You are the executive director of MART, the Manhattan Area Resettlement Team. You've been in that position what a year now?
SPEAKER_00Over a year, yes. Uh-huh.
SPEAKER_01And uh there's probably a few people out there that don't have an idea what that means, the Manhattan Area Resettlement Team. So can you give us a little elevator speech about who you are, what you do?
SPEAKER_00Of course. So uh we are a resettlement agency that helps refugees and other eligible populations to resettle in the area of Manhattan. And we cover around 50 mile radius from Manhattan. Uh basically, our majority of our uh clients are from Afghanistan since this is how this organization started. But we have been receiving people from all over the world since 2023.
SPEAKER_01Yeah.
How A Grassroots Effort Grew
SPEAKER_01Let's talk a bit about the start of that. And I I remember when this was happening because I was doing some community type stuff myself. Um, but this was an effort and largely led by Aaron Estherbrook, who's been involved in a lot of things in the community.
SPEAKER_00Yes. So five years ago, um, can't believe I'm saying this right now. Five years ago, yes, uh, when the American troops withdrew off from Afghanistan, um, Aaron Estrabuk and Fatima Jaguri got together and initiated this idea of helping refugees from specifically from Afghanistan to resettle in the area. Um, since we started with um maybe two or three families, in a few months it was more than a hundred people. So in a period of six months, we've resettled probably 150 individuals from Afghanistan. Uh, yes, which was very hectic since this was uh a grassroots root organization. It was mostly volunteers working as case managers, drivers, um finance directors, etc. So that by 2022 uh became a little bit like a lot of work for these individuals, and this is when they decided we need to find a more um formal way to serve these individuals. This is when they decide to partner with Kansas Sofi for Refugees, and uh from that hire professional um professional uh people in the office, and this is where we are right now. So five years later we have seven employees and over a hundred and thirty individuals uh serving right now.
SPEAKER_01Now you are housed in a historic home here just off downtown.
SPEAKER_00Yep, Damon Runyon House.
SPEAKER_01The Damon Runyon House, which a lot of people are familiar with here. And uh how I mean, is your entire operation there? Do you have people that stay there?
SPEAKER_00Yes. That's our headquarters. Um, all our employees are there. This is where we serve our clients, this is with where we operate. So it is a little house on the prairie. And uh is an the space is just enough for us just to operate comfortably.
SPEAKER_01What does it take to operate this organization?
SPEAKER_00It is a lot of paperwork, it is a lot of atoming uh part that is go behind doors. So usually we open doors for clients only Tuesdays and and Thursday. So we have for the rest of the week for planning and processing all the documents of the paperwork um and at the same time organize for the next weeks and and so on.
SPEAKER_01Talk about that process. It's not an easy thing to do.
SPEAKER_00It is not, but it's very rewarding.
SPEAKER_01Well, I could I can only imagine that it would be, and we'll we'll we'll talk about that here in just a little bit because there are there are a lot of challenges today. Yes. Because it's uh it's a different legal world than when Mart first started. And uh how does that come into play with some of the individuals that come to you for help in getting their their roots established here?
Benefit Cuts And Deportation Fears
SPEAKER_00So as you know, the policies have been changing from over a year, almost every day. It is very difficult even for us to kind of keep up with all the changes. So uh our approach is first understand what's happening, who is being affected before we can talk to our clients and express like this is what's happening, this is how it's going to affect you. Uh the main changes have been that uh refugees have been excluded for food stamps, and Medicaid has been a process in October, uh October 1st last year. This is when uh the SNAP benefits were eliminated from uh for refugees, and then October 1st, this year, Medicaid will be eliminated for refugees. This is a very difficult policy that is affecting most of our clients, since we have a few of our clients that are receiving benefits already from their employers, like insurance from their employers. Many of our clients are already self-sufficient, but we still have a minority of clients that will benefit for these uh social benefits.
SPEAKER_01I understand there's also fears about uh potential deportation because the atmosphere that we have in our world today.
SPEAKER_00So all of our clients are here legally, have completed all the process that uh was in place when they started the process. They have been vetted for two, three years, even sometimes more years. Uh, but since policies have been changing every day, uh they are they have this fear that they can they're gonna be returned, they're gonna be deported to their home countries where they were actually escaping.
SPEAKER_01Potentially a good thing for them.
SPEAKER_00It is absolutely not.
SPEAKER_01Yeah, because there's fears upon, you know, if they were to return, what might happen to them, what might happen to their families.
SPEAKER_00Yes.
SPEAKER_01How do you navigate that with these individuals?
SPEAKER_00It is heartbreaking to see and to talk to them, knowing that uh they have these in their minds, thinking all the time when they go to work, when they take the kids to school, when they go and uh to the groceries, when even they go to the park. Is it I'm going to be deporter? Uh what I'm gonna do, what is gonna happen to to my life? And in most cases, uh the outcome of if it if these individuals are deported is is not a positive or a nice one.
The Human Story Behind Headlines
SPEAKER_01I um wanna talk about something that um as a real awareness opportunity for you, Mart, the Manhattan area resettlement team. Recently there is an article in the Washington Post, not just about the concept in general, but about the Manhattan area resettlement team. How did that come about?
SPEAKER_00Well, if you remember last year there was a shooting around Thanksgiving, uh a shooting in DC, and where an Afghan national was charged of this shooting. And after that, there was a um media um effort or um the media was um basically um pointing towards the Afghan nationality in any every sense, even the administration. So the Washington Post wanted to hear more about what is the what was what are the human stories behind all this? What are the Afghans, what are they doing? And uh he did his research, he found us, and he came over here in Manhattan for a couple of days, and he wanted to hear what was their life of our clients, Afghan, specifically Afghan clients, back in Afghanistan, and why they had escaped, why they had to flee, why they are here, and how is their life here. So, and we try to kind of highlight the life of the women in Afghanistan, what it was like. So during the American occupation, the Afghan ladies, women had opportunities to go to school, to be professionals, to do basically more or less whatever they wanted to do. Uh, after the Americans withdrew from Afghanistan, that possibility was completely closed, and this is when they had to escape. So we have a group of refugees that come from the Hazara community, they were professionals, they were unmarried, and they're gonna be, they were going to be the first target of the Taliban. Um so women cannot study right now, they can only complete elementary school, they cannot go to secondary or college, they cannot work in any government, healthcare industries. They are very limited to what they're calling like a small entrepreneurships in Afghanistan. But other than that, the goal is that they get married and stayed in the house with their children. So all these women that are here in Manhattan, if they are sent back to Afghanistan, uh they're gonna face persecution, death, or I don't know, because they are single, they are professionals, and um they are not following their customs of dress costumes uh that the Talibans are imposing in there.
Scholarships And Education Pathways
SPEAKER_01We mentioned Aaron Asterbrook. There's a scholarship that he's helped uh provide. Tell us what that's about.
SPEAKER_00Yes. So since 2023, we kind of saw that there were um a lot of people, professional clients, professionals that wanted to pursue higher education here in the United States. But of course, there's still a little bit of economic barrier. You are arriving to a new place, you still do not have that family support or institutional support. So what we wanted with the Estherbrook scholarship was to offer then a little bit or alleviate a little bit of that economic restraints that our clients have. So far, we have awarded more than six scholarships since 2023, if I remember well. And this is uh $1,000 cash that's gonna go towards tuition and uh any higher education program in the United States. It doesn't have to be here in Manhattan. So far, uh we have completed programs in dentistry, CMA, CNA. We have a client that is looking towards taking some credits of biology at K State. Um and we plan for the future to try to increase. The ideal will be if we increase our scholarships. Um right now it is just only two per year, if we can increase a little bit uh the scholarships per year, and we can expand towards the state of Kansas instead of just Manhattan.
SPEAKER_01How cool is that?
SPEAKER_00It is very cool, and uh just heads up our scholarship campaign, fundraising campaign is coming at the end of uh July. We are planning our goal is to raise at least $2,000 for the next year.
SPEAKER_01Okay. All right. Let's
Volunteering, Contact Info, And Anniversary
SPEAKER_01just talk quickly here about how people can help. I mean, there's a lot of ways that people can assist, you know, some of these individuals and the efforts that you provide.
SPEAKER_00Um right now we are looking for a volunteer coordinator. This is uh volunteer we need a volunteer volunteer coordinator. This is just to help with just to help us coordinate our volunteers, uh just complete the interviews, background check, and then kind of um coordinate where volunteers would like to work with within our organization. We have opportunities from high schoolers, um people of different ages. We also have opportunities on time. Like if you want to do it once a month, once a month is okay. If you're gonna do it like a um every week, that is okay too. So we are very flexible with time. Right now, we're looking for um also for an English body for a family, more than an English body, uh, some kind of family connection with the community. It's a new arrival, will need a little bit of support, you can navigate in the community, um, just things are complicated when you arrive and you don't have the whole support. So someone that can make that connection with the community will be great.
SPEAKER_01How does one apply for that?
SPEAKER_00So uh our uh volunteer positions are closed, but I will say just send us an email to infoallieswelcome.com and then we can kind of coordinate uh data.
SPEAKER_01That's allieswelcome.com.
SPEAKER_00Correct.
SPEAKER_01All kinds of information that you need and access is right there.
SPEAKER_00Mm-hmm. Yes.
SPEAKER_01Anything else new that you want to talk about?
SPEAKER_00Um well March anniversary. March anniversary is coming in September. Okay. Trying to uh reflect what we have doing here in the community and trying to bring a little bit, lift a little bit of our clients, refugees, and having a day to enjoy. We don't have a day yet, but it's going to be in September. We're going to include our refugees and volunteers into that celebration.
SPEAKER_01All right. Sounds great. Virginia, thank you so much for joining us today. Good luck and thank you for all the work that you and all those volunteers do. I know it's uh you know, it's it's it's something obviously that's a tremendous passion. There's a lot of emotions that are involved in it and every dynamic that you could possibly imagine. But thanks for doing all that.
SPEAKER_00Thank you.
SPEAKER_01Virginia Rodriguez is her name with the Manhattan Area Resettlement Team. Once again, the website, allieswelcome.com. Our next guest is Daphne McNally. She's standing by via Zoom. We're going to learn more about Adibus and what's happening with uh that organization when we return with the GMCF Community Hour here on News Radio, K M A N.