Category: Immigrant and Refugee Community Services

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
February 13, 2025
Contact: Leah Nelson | Leah.Nelson@lsiowa.org

Waterloo, IA – Lutheran Services in Iowa (LSI) is excited to announce that a $10,000 challenge grant has been made by the Community Foundation of Northeast Iowa and Marv and Helen Schumacher. This challenge will exclusively match dollar-for-dollar gifts up to $10,000 made in the Cedar Valley. Contributions made will help LSI reach our overall goal of $60,000 to support families in the Cedar Valley.   

LSI continues to serve refugee families in Waterloo, Sioux City, and Des Moines. Private support is needed now more than ever in each of these communities, as a result of federal policies that have left hundreds of people just recently welcomed to Iowa, without the resources and services needed.  

On Friday, January 24th, LSI received notice that the Department of State was asking all of its resettlement agency partners to stop providing services to recently arrived refugee families under its contract. Federal funds for these services will no longer be available after that date and traditionally help resettlement agencies like LSI cover the security deposit, first month’s rent, and food expenses until the family is working and self-sufficient. The federal grant also covers staff time to provide case management that helps families get children enrolled in school, attend initial health screenings, learn to navigate the new community, and find employment.  

As a result of these actions, 191 individuals, including 108 minors, are now at risk across LSI’s three resettlement locations. 127 of these individuals have just arrived within the last 30 days. This action will have profound negative impacts on the children and families throughout our communities. 

For years LSI has worked alongside volunteers, donors, and community partners to welcome and support over 4,000 refugees, Special Immigrant Visa holders, and Afghan allies across Iowa. Refugees have also made a lasting economic impact here in the state of Iowa and nationwide, contributing a net $123.8 billion to the U.S. economy between 2005 and 2019. 

“We are so grateful to the Community Foundation of Northeast Iowa and the Schumacher family for offering this challenge grant to inspire others to join us,” said LSI’s President & CEO Renee Hardman. “LSI is committed to providing the services these families need to thrive, but we can’t do it without our communities’ support.” 

“We were thrilled that Marv and Helen Schumacher have joined the Community Foundation of Northeast Iowa to help us create this $10,000 matching gift opportunity that we know will inspire others to support LSI here in the Cedar Valley and around the state,” said the Foundation President & CEO Kaye Englin. “We applaud LSI for standing with these new members of our community despite the sudden stop on federal resettlement support.” 

Now more than ever, the collective support of Iowans is needed to uphold our humanitarian values and continue to be a beacon of hope and opportunity for the world’s most vulnerable. Your financial support and advocacy is critical. Your generosity will also help families maintain housing and cover basic living expenses until they achieve financial stability. Donations will help LSI provide essential services to children and families, including school enrollment, health appointments, cultural orientation, English classes, and employment support. Financial donations can be made at LSIowa.org/give

##

About us :

LSI is one of Iowa’s largest human services agencies and impacts thousands of Iowans annually through child abuse prevention, services for children and families, services for people with disabilities, and immigrant and refugee services. LSI is nationally accredited and proudly serves people of all ages, abilities, religions, sexes, gender identities, national origins, ethnicities, races, and sexual orientations. To learn more, visit LSIowa.org. Join us on Facebook at Facebook.com/LSI.iowa and on Instagram at @lsi_iowa.  

Firmin Ntakimazi was born in Burundi, where he grew up, received his education, and made a living teaching elementary school. When civil war broke out in 1993, he fled to Tanzania, where he spent the next 15 years in a refugee camp before being accepted to go to the U.S. and begin a new life.  

Today, Firmin works as a community resource navigator for the LSI Global Greens program. He coaches farmers, assists with interpretation, works to find land for farmers, and teaches classes. But this isn’t Firmin’s first time teaching others about farming.  

“I was an elementary teacher in Burundi when the secretary of education appointed me to go work at a school in a rural area where the kids didn’t like school and the teachers didn’t really teach,” said Firmin. “When I went there, I introduced the kids to games so they could love going to school.”  

Unfortunately, the school didn’t have money to purchase balls or sports equipment, so Firmin came up with a different solution: farming.  

“We’d get the land ready, and the parents would provide the seeds. The students grew soybeans, corn, cabbages, and other vegetables.”  

After learning to grow and sell their crops, the students raised enough money to purchase many balls and sports equipment. Additionally, Firmin kept some of the crops to cook at school so he could teach his students new recipes. 

“About 40 percent of the kids who had stopped going to school came back because of the fun we were having at school. I will never forget that.”  

With a passion for teaching and coaching others, Firmin teaches refugee and immigrant farmers in agriculture education classes at LSI. Topics, among others, include land access, risk management, record keeping, and the differences in American farm practices versus farming culture from other countries.  

Due to a lack of education and experience resulting from years spent in refugee camps, many new arrivals struggle to find a well-suited job in Iowa, unable to work long and laborious hours in factories. Firmin enjoys sharing the joy of farming with others and helping former refugees provide food for their families or turn farming into a small business.  

Firmin’s work helps pave a path for refugees in the United States. The skills they learn not only help them feed their families but also provide them with confidence and knowledge in their farming businesses. You can ensure more refugees learn the joys and knowledge of farming by supporting LSI Immigrant and Refugee Community Services. Please consider giving today. 

Learn more about services that help immigrants and refugees:

Immigrant and Refugee Community Services

Support our mission:

Donate

When she heard about the news of the war in Ukraine, Zoya Staroselsky felt compelled to support her fellow Ukrainians, in more ways than one.  

Zoya, who moved to the U.S. with her family as refugees in 1991, was empathetic to everyone being affected by the war, so she helped to organize fundraisers and two rallies at the Des Moines Capitol in March and April of 2022. 

“Once you’re Ukrainian, you’re always Ukrainian,” said Zoya. “I was hit very hard by the news of the war in Ukraine. We still have friends and connections there, so hearing the news was scary.” 

In December 2022, Zoya began working at LSI as an interpreter, speaking both Ukrainian and Russian. “My son called me and said he sent me a link to a Ukrainian Interpreter job at LSI. I thought ‘maybe I can help in that way.’ That’s how I got the job here. I just wanted to help in as many ways as I could,” said Zoya.  

A large part of Zoya’s job is to provide her clients with everyday necessities including clothing, car seats and diapers. “These people came with little notice,” said Zoya. “They brought what they could carry in their hands or small suitcases.” 

When Zoya first started at LSI, she was the only Ukrainian interpreter. Now, LSI has a bigger team that allows them to help more clients.  “As of right now, our team works with about 40-50 clients, but we still have much room to grow,” said Zoya. 

LSI hosts resource fairs for newly-arrived Ukrainians to help set them up with access to community programs and services, but according to Zoya, some people come to the resource fairs just to find someone that they can communicate with. 

One of the most challenging aspects of Zoya’s job is not always being able to obtain items or resources for her clients as quickly as they need them.  “People are very generous, but it’s hard to not be in charge of your own life. Some of these clients depend on other people and that can be challenging for them,” she said. 

Zoya also shared that she is especially happy when she is able to help a family or individual get what they need to succeed or move forward in their lives. “It fulfills me to my core to help people, and this job aligns with that value. I found that at LSI, it’s not just interpretation, I get to help all those families with their needs in many different ways,” she said. 

“It makes me very proud of this organization [LSI] that has done this work for many years, for many different people, of many different nationalities,” said Zoya. “Being a part of this organization makes me feel really proud of the work I do.” 

Learn more about Services for Ukrainian Humanitarian Parolees:

Services for Ukrainian Humanitarian Parolees

Support our mission:

Donate

From dreaming of big cities, tall buildings and lots of cars, Pree, a former refugee, is now making her dream a reality. 

“I’ve always seen the U.S. in movies. I dreamt of living in my own home and driving my own car. Now, my dream has come true,” said Pree. 

Pree Aung and her family of four moved to Iowa in 2014 from a Thailand refugee camp. Having family in Des Moines, Pree heard about Iowa’s Karen community and the work opportunities in the area. “Iowa has a big community for my family, many Asian grocery stores, and an organization that helps refugees [LSI]. Iowa has everything that I need and want,” she said. 

Pree started taking English Language classes at LSI three days a week. Her interpreter told her about all the LSI programs she qualified for, including the Child Care program. “That’s when I decided to do something for my future,” said Pree. 

“I wanted to become a child care provider because, as a mother myself, I love kids and want all kids to have a safe place for child care. All mothers deserve to go to work without worrying about their kid’s safety.” 

For many parents who arrive in the U.S. as refugees, it is difficult to find quality child care. Families are adjusting to life in the U.S. and may feel hesitant leaving their child with a stranger who doesn’t speak their language, or they may not be able to afford child care. LSI’s Child Care program trains immigrants to start their own in-home child care businesses, which benefits more families in the refugee community. 

LSI staff supported Pree through her training by providing her with a Karen interpreter and helping her through each step of her certification. “LSI staff helped walk me through my trainings, including CPR classes and Mandatory Reporter Training. Two of the most valuable things I learned in the program include how to keep track of children’s medications and what to do in emergencies.” 

Pree became a child care provider in 2016, achieving licensing in just 6 months. “At the start, I thought it wouldn’t be easy to earn my provider license. I was a full-time mom, so I knew I wouldn’t be able to work until I became a provider myself. With the help of LSI’s services, I was able to finally reach my goal.” 

Today, Pree’s Karen-speaking in-home child care business is made up of three children. In the future, she hopes to own her own child care center or school. “I would love for my whole family to work together at our own child care center and be providers together,” said Pree. 

“My advice to full-time moms in my community is to do something that can be beneficial for you and your family. Try to get your child care license or a different license that is available in your area,” said Pree. “You are stronger than you think. If I can do it, you can too.” 

Learn more about services that help people like Pree:

Immigrant and Refugee Community Services

Support our mission:

Donate

In 1996 Congolese civil war broke out in the present-day countries of the Democratic Republic of the Congo and Republic of the Congo, forcing then two-year-old Thomas Mbuthu into exile in a refugee camp in neighboring Zambia. After growing up in refugee camp, now 27-year-old Thomas applied to come to the United States.  

When Thomas landed at the Des Moines airport in an entirely foreign land in a state called Iowa, LSI caseworker Patrick Karemera greeted him.  

“I said, ‘Welcome! This is your new home now! I am your brother. This is a new life. Feel free and feel safe,” shared Patrick, recounting his initial meeting with his client Thomas.  

Thomas thanked him, explaining he had not expected to see someone like Patrick welcome him – someone who looked like himself and spoke his native languages of Lingala and Swahili.  

“As a refugee, I wanted a better life. But I didn’t know where I was going. ‘What is going to happen to me?’” wondered Thomas aloud.  

“When Patrick came to me, I could see the future.” 

Patrick is from the same country as Thomas, coming to America just a few years prior. He works as a caseworker to welcome refugees to Iowa and helps them resettle, pursue their goals, and navigate the challenges of an entirely foreign place. 

“I immigrated here, like Thomas. It’s rewarding to welcome somebody like me to come here to Iowa. This is my second home,” said Patrick.  

Patrick admires how courageous, open-minded, and curious Thomas is. He encourages his client to dream big and work hard to achieve his goals.  

“Life is about helping each other,” shared Patrick.  

 

Learn more about services that help people like Thomas:

Immigrant and Refugee Community Services

Support our mission:

Donate

When Lwe Paw traveled from a refugee camp in Thailand to Iowa in 2012, she knew the path ahead would be rocky. Arriving in a foreign land as a senior, Lwe did not know English, the U.S. customs or culture, or how to navigate her community.

Soon she made a friend who told her about Lutheran Services in Iowa. There, Lwe and her husband could learn English, take classes, and more – all through the Senior Immigrant and Refugee Program, designed especially for individuals 60 and above.

The Senior Immigrant and Refugee Program aims to help clients achieve citizenship and connect with their community. Through the program, Lwe and her husband studied for the U.S. citizenship test and became U.S. citizens. She set a goal to learn more English and enjoys practicing her English at the senior center where LSI hosts some of its senior programming.

The program also offers special presentations on health and well-being, special events like social drumming and hula hoop class, and arts and crafts.

Lwe loves all the opportunities at the senior center, including exercise class, yoga and tai chi, and arts and crafts. She appreciates how nice and welcoming the LSI teachers and volunteers are.

Lwe and her husband, who is homebound, live in an apartment in Des Moines. Their LSI case worker Lweh Moo visits often to ensure the Paws have everything they need and to drive Lwe to the senior center.

The Paw family’s children grew up and moved out of state, but Lwe and her husband stayed because of LSI services and caseworkers like Lweh Moo.

“My favorite thing about Lweh, besides her name, is how helpful she is,” said Lwe. “She is always there to connect me to new opportunities.”

The relationships formed between clients and LSI caseworkers are meaningful, positive connections that ensure clients feel supported. Lwe and Lweh are just one example of a positive connection formed through LSI.

Pictures of Kahamu Rashidi‘s children hang on Dan Bean’s fridge next to snapshots of his grandchildren. It symbolizes a father-son bond formed during a chance meeting in an African refugee camp in 2018 and eventually led to the family’s resettlement near Dan’s home in Marshalltown.

Three years after first meeting, in 2021, Kahamu’s family was selected for resettlement in the United States. Dan and his wife Sylvia, along with Abdullahi Hiret, a program supervisor with LSI, met the family at the Des Moines airport in 2023.   

Seeing Dan and hearing a familiar language was overwhelming. Dan and Kahamu had kept in touch over WhatsApp all those years, and Abdullahi also speaks Swahili. 

“I was very happy. I could cry,” Rashidi said. “I can’t forget that day when I saw Dan. He knew me. I was not alone. There was somebody with me. I had reached a new land, and I’m safe.”

Dan invited Kahamu to resettle in Marshalltown, where Dan lives. He also asked the Kaamu family to stay with him and his wife until the family could get settled.  

Dan and Sylvia enjoyed having house guests, and tutored the family on navigating the American culture, from table etiquette to how coins can make change. In Zimbabwe, there were only U.S. bills.  

Understanding America’s cultures and norms is one of the reasons LSI offers cultural orientation courses for new refugees. LSI’s Des Moines staff assisted 252 new arrivals in 2022, and Sioux City staff had 62.  

“Now he is family,” Kahamu said of Dan. “They received me and accepted me. I feel I have a home because of how Dan has connected me to the community. This is my town.”  

While most refugee families rely on LSI’s resettlement services to find an apartment and volunteers and donors to furnish it and set it up, Dan wanted to do more than just welcome Kahamu’s family. He contacted members of his church and friends, who donated items and set up Kahamu’s Marshalltown home.  

“There are so many good people,” Abdullahi said. “There are so many who like to help, who like to welcome new Iowans.”  

Fleeing home

Dan was visiting refugee camps in 2018 to scout out a future youth mission trip for his son, a school principal. Seeing a “mzungu,” or “white man,” Kahamu struck up a conversation and invited Dan to see his home.  

His family — including wife, Salima, and six children — had lived in the Tongogara Refugee Camp in eastern Zimbabwe since fleeing Congo in 2012 during the country’s civil war. 

While working as a nurse, Kahamu and his coworkers were confronted by M23 rebels. At gunpoint, they demanded Kahamu and others work for them in the bush. When they resisted, the rebels killed a doctor in front of them.   

When the rebels left the room, Kahamu and his coworkers stacked furniture to climb through the hospital’s ceiling and roof to escape. He ran to his home, where his wife was in tears. The rebels had killed people she knew and kidnapped others.  

Kahamu gathered Salima and their children, and they fled to a nearby village. They carried documents and small household items, thinking they would be away from home only a short time.  

But the rebels were there, too, and destruction was everywhere. Soon it became evident they wouldn’t be safe in Congo, so they entered a refugee camp in Zimbabwe. 

From a refugee camp to Iowa

Kahamu’s family was caught in a Catch-22, Abdullahi explained. The rebels wanted to kill them for fleeing the hospital and not working for their side, and the government did not trust them because Kahamu had worked at a hospital overtaken by the rebels.  

Resettling in the United States is a long process, including 12 screening steps by the U.S. and international authorities, such as the United Nations, FBI, Department of Defense, Department of Justice, Department of State, Department of Homeland Security, and U.S. Citizenship and Immigration services.  

Refugees undergo background checks, fingerprint verification, medical screening, and in-person interviews. 

“They will ask you questions again and again why you cannot go back,” said Abdullahi said. “Then they make a determination and give you an approval later. That’s the happiest day of your life because you’ve been approved to come to the United States.” 

Kahamu recalled officials asking about Dan and their friendship; how could Kahamu be friends with a white man in America?  

It’s a story Kahamu and Salima still laugh about because, at that point, Kahamu and Dan had been friends for a while, keeping in contact through WhatsApp.  

Dan even visited Kahamu in 2019 when he returned to the Tongogara Refugee Camp. That’s when Kahamu asked to use Dan’s name on the resettlement application.  

“I sort of assumed his changes were slight,” Dan said with a laugh.

Resettling in Marshalltown

When a family resettles, LSI typically asks the community for donations to fill their home with furniture and other house items and volunteers to help the family move in. Families are only allowed to bring 2 suitcases with them to the U.S. 

But Dan took care of that — asking others in Marshalltown to donate furniture and items so their home was ready. The community has earned a reputation of being welcoming to immigrants and refugees with good work opportunities and lifestyle. 

Kahamu and his family are thought to be the first African refugees to directly resettle in Marshalltown. Other African families have moved there, but only after living in other cities or states first. 

After they arrived, LSI bought groceries for the family and gave them winter coaches. They later returned with other food, including a 50-pound bag of rice, which is traditional in many African meals.  

Kahamu and his family attended cultural orientation classes as they learned about life in America. Dan and Sylvia supplemented with additional learnings — from making snow angels with their kids to explaining how coins work, as they had only seen U.S. bills in Zimbabwe. 

Finding work

Kahamu found employment at JBS Pork, as did Salima and an adult son. A second adult son works on Dan’s farm. 

Self-sufficiency is a priority for LSI. In 2022, 80 percent of refugees became self-sufficient after 6 months and 94 percent after 8 months.  

Kahamu started saving for a car through LSI’s Match and Save program, which offers financial education and an incentive to save. Eligible participants can receive a one-to-one match up to $4,000.  

But Dan’s family had “adopted” Kahamu and his family as their own, and a relative donated a car to them, which gave them a financial leg up. Similar to how a father might gift a vehicle to their son to help him start his life. 

Dan also bought the house Kahamu now lives in, becoming a “reluctant landlord” after he had difficulty finding a place for the family of eight that had enough space, he said. 

Kahamu plans to buy the house from Dan eventually. They’ve planted a garden in the back, including maize, a type of African corn they enjoy from home.  

“I felt like it was the right thing to do,” Dan said. “My Christian faith drives me.”

Support our mission:

Donate

“Thinking back to where I was a few years ago, barely able to pay my bills, compared to where I am now, I feel blessed,” said Teta, a client of LSI. 

LSI’s Child Care Business Development program helps individuals like Teta, a single mother of three, start her own in-home child care business and support her family while providing culturally appropriate child care to her community. 

After hearing about LSI’s Child Care Business Development program through a friend at her local church, Teta enrolled in the program as a single mother of three young girls while working full-time. She knew the struggles of finding culturally appropriate, affordable child care for her children and wanted to help other families in her community. 

Teta worked around the clock to make the dream of owning her own business a reality – so much so that she worked on class material for LSI’s program during her breaks at work. After about four months, Teta became certified to open up her own at-home child care business, where she now cares for ten children. 

The LSI Child Care Business Development program helps immigrants, refugees, and non-native English speakers to start or expand licensed in-home daycare businesses through education, training, language, business, and other support. LSI’s program began in 2012 with the goal of expanding culturally and linguistically appropriate care and providing small business opportunities for secondary income earners.

“LSI has been a huge help in this journey for me and my three kids,” said Teta. “Because of LSI’s Child Care Business Development program, I can stay home to watch my kids grow and learn, and I am able to do things like help my 8-year-old daughter with her homework.”

Since the program’s inception, LSI has helped over 200 providers from 16 language groups start home-based child care businesses in Polk County. As a result of LSI’s work, the majority of home-based child care providers in Polk County are now immigrant and multi-lingual providers. 

Teta doesn’t just care for the children in her child care business but helps them learn, grow, and have new experiences. She prioritizes teaching young children to count and the alphabet, and takes the kids on outings, such as going to the local zoo. 

“We have people in the community who need child care and are looking for a provider that speaks their language and has a similar background , lives close to them, and is open during their working hours,” said Mu Da Paw, LSI Community Resource Navigator. “By providing culturally appropriate, high-quality child care, LSI is helping solve the child-care crisis in Iowa.” 

Through additional support from the State of Iowa and Iowa Women’s Foundation, LSI is expanding the Child Care Business Development program to key communities in Iowa such as Sioux City, Buena Vista County (Storm Lake), Black Hawk County (Waterloo), and Scott County (Davenport). 

“LSI’s classes help you learn how to better care for infants and young children. Where some people were born, we did not have the privilege of knowing how to care for children and infants,” said Teta. “At LSI, I learned how to perform CPR, and now I know how to save my own kids and my child care kids in an emergency.” 

In the beginning, Teta’s goal was to make enough income to support her three children and create a better life for her and her family. Through LSI’s services, she surpassed that goal and even purchased a new car for her and her children. 

“I want to thank LSI for approving me to be a child care provider and helping me put food on the table for my three kids. Working with LSI has been an honor and a blessing, and I want to make sure my children follow in my footsteps.” 

Learn more about services that help people like Teta:

Immigrant and Refugee Community Services

Support our Mission

Donate