ANSWERING THE CALL

MULTILINGUAL HOTLINE TRANSLATES COVID-19 INFORMATION

The early days of the COVID-19 crisis in Central New York were a devastating,” Adan said. “Connecting with family is healing for us. whirlwind of new policies and health recommendations. For the Being unable to see family created a lot of mental health issues.” region’s New Americans, the flurry of cancellations, closures and safety rules brought additional challenges. A grant from the COVID-19 Community Support Fund supported a “People had no idea what was going on and they looked to us English. RISE caseworkers calmed fears and provided accurate for support,” said Haji Adan, executive director of Refugee and information — in the caller’s preferred language — about issues such Immigrant Self-Empowerment (RISE) in Syracuse and a New as COVID-19 testing, unemployment benefits and food assistance. American himself. “They were worried about their health and welfare. They were worried about their jobs. They had so The North Side Learning Center and the New American Forum also many concerns.” received grants to support emergency services and multilingual Due to lack of access to quality education in their home countries, Onondaga County are fiscal sponsors of the New American Forum. many refugees and immigrants hold limited literacy skills in their understand how the greatest country in the world did not have 24-hour hotline to help New Americans in 15 languages, including assistance to New Americans. RISE and the YWCA of Syracuse & own language and many are still in the process of learning English. RISE assisted at least 300 new clients during the initial panic of the pandemic. The agency’s 25 caseworkers previously worked Uncertainty about the health with about 1,000 clients from crisis frightened some New “THEY WATCHED THE NEWS 23 countries. Americans, many of whom had experienced war, poverty THEN CAME TO US TO The agency, located on Burt or natural disasters in their home countries. EXPLAIN IT TO THEM.” Street, remained open, with limited staff, throughout the “They remembered what it was like when there was a malaria to go,” Adan said. “They watched the news then came to us to outbreak in the refugee camps,” Adan said. “They could not explain it to them.” crisis. “No one knew where else medicine for this disease.” The staff tried to stay positive throughout the confusing period. “We told them, ‘Think about your health and your well-being They also worried about the effects of social distancing or quarantine. and your family. Remember, this country is great and things “If they could not see a family member for two weeks, that was will get better.’”