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SALT LAKE CITY— Utah has long been a refugee-friendly state, from welcoming refugees from places like Vietnam and Cambodia in the '70s to recently passing laws that give refugees in-state college tuition and allow them to take driver's license tests in their native languages.
That welcoming tradition has placed Utah as 11th in the nation for refugee resettlement per capita. The Utah Department of Workforce Services reported that 65,000 refugees resided in Utah as of February. The state receives an additional 1,100 refugees from around the world annually.
Nonprofits and government agencies assist refugees throughout the state, but everyday Utahns can also help their new neighbors feel at home.
"We are fortunate in Utah to have a welcoming community for refugees. People care. They want to help," said Utah Refugee Services Office Director Mario Kljajo. "We have so much to learn from refugees who have such a unique perspective based on their life experiences. They bring vibrancy and optimism and help us see the world in a new way."
Aden Batar — director of Migration and Refugee Services at Catholic Community Services — said there is a common misconception that refugees don't undergo background checks or that they rely on long-term government assistance.
"Refugees and migrants are opposite to that. Refugees and migrants are coming here to rebuild their lives, to support their families and to work hard. They have been vetted and they're safe," Batar said. "We don't have any problem with that. They get jobs immediately upon arrival within six months, they don't depend on public benefits, they pay taxes, they become citizens, their children go to school and go to college and have important jobs in our community and so forth."
Walker Frahm of nonprofit Lifting Hands International added that many refugees spend years in refugee camps before coming to the U.S.
"Refugees are extremely hardworking. Oftentimes they were professionals with good jobs in their home countries and the only reason they're leaving is because of war or something else driving them from their homes," he said. "It's really been eye opening for me to see the vibrancy and energy — economic and otherwise, like cultural energy — that refugees bring to Utah."
How can you help?
Utahns can help refugees in the state in a number of ways, from volunteering to mentor a refugee to donating basic necessities newly arrived refugees may need. Oftentimes, just being a friend can also go a long way, those who work with refugees say.
"The best way for people to help refugees is to offer friendship and welcome them as part of the community. If you have time, volunteer to mentor a refugee or offer your talents to help them learn something," Kljajo said. "You can participate in the Know Your Neighbor Program, which pairs specific volunteer opportunities with refugee needs. We have seen relationships formed through that program blossom into lovely friendships that go far beyond the original volunteering."
The program is in partnership with the Utah Refugee Services Office and the Salt Lake City Mayor's Office. It offers a number of volunteering opportunities ranging from English teaching and mentoring to assisting at a refugee goat farm. More information is available at the county's website.
Catholic Community Services also has a number of opportunities for Utahns to serve local refugees, including fostering refugee youth without family in the state, donating money or household items to the nonprofit, and volunteering to mentor a refugee family.
Batar said mentoring is a crucial way Utahns can make a difference. The program serves about 150 families at any given time, and Batar said the time commitment is flexible.
"We always need more volunteers," he said. "It makes a huge difference for the families when they have somebody who is a friend, who they can call and who's going to their home teaching them English or helping them with mentorship or teaching them life skills."
International Rescue Committee, a national nonprofit with a Salt Lake office, also offers a number of ways for Utahns to support refugees. Individuals can subscribe to receive weekly food boxes or shop the farmer's market from the nonprofit's New Roots program, which helps refugee farmers grow and market a variety of crops.
Those who prefer a premade food option can also make orders through the nonprofit's Spice Kitchen Incubator in Salt Lake City. The kitchen is a space for refugees and others to start food businesses.
International Rescue Committee also offers more traditional ways to help such as donations and volunteer opportunities, that range from K-12 academic help to assistance with accessing health care.
Lifting Hands International is a Utah-based nonprofit that helps refugees both locally and abroad. Frahm, the chief operations officer, said Utahns are welcome to volunteer to receive and organize donations at the nonprofit's American Fork warehouse weekdays from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. Donations are used in Utah or shipped to Lifting Hands International's programs in Greece, Ukraine, Jordan and Moldova or its partners around the world.
The nonprofit also needs help multiple times a week setting up furniture and other household items to prepare homes that refugees will be resettled into. Frahm said the nonprofit also welcomes individuals who want to put together group service projects in partnership with the nonprofit. More information, including a list of needed donation items, is available at Lifting Hands International's website.
"We see volunteer activity as a way of creating bridges between people in need and people who want to serve," Frahm said. "That's a high priority for us to make that happen, even if it means adjusting our schedule or working with you to figure out how that can work."
