Hiiraan Online

Work is progressing on coordinating health screenings, housing and integration services for the group spearheaded by World Relief Fox Valley, a nonprofit that launched its Oshkosh office in early 2012.

This is the third year for the resettlement operation that has already brought 174 individuals — largely from Burmese. But others have arrived from Iraq, Kyrgyzstan, Afghanistan, Ethiopia, Eritrea, Somalia and Darfur, said Myriam Mwizerwa, the Oshkosh office director.

“We’re expecting 135 in the next year, with about 75 of them in the Appleton area,” Mwizerwa said. “We don’t get notification about who is coming and when until about two weeks before they arrive.”

That leaves a short time window to prepare for health screenings, financial assistance and housing.

World Relief also aggressively helps with job searches for the adults that include skilled trades.

“Our goal is self-sufficiency,” Mwizerwa said. “We have to get everyone in an employment position within a year and work to find industries that match skills.”

A group of nonprofits, school and city officials met Friday at City Hall to iron out some details for the influx of refugees.

Kathy Flores, Appleton’s diversity coordinator, said they took some cues from Oshkosh officials who recently welcomed two waves of new immigrants.

“As a community we’ll be looking to provide some educational opportunities to do some research about what’s happening in these countries,” Flores said. “These individuals have faced some trauma in their home countries and are coming here for some very serious reasons, and we’re excited to be helpful and welcoming.”

With first refugees expected as early as January, Flores said they’ll be working with churches, synagogues and mosques to prepare accommodations and neighborhoods.

Health, school officials prep

Kurt Eggebrecht, the city’s health officer, said the department will coordinate health screenings for the refugees and could face a wide range of conditions.

“We’ll consider not just physical health but the mental health of refugees,” Eggebrecht said. “We’re here to facilitate and ensure they get all their needs taken care of.”

Local agencies contract with the state Department of Children and Families to pay for the screenings. Last year, about $1 million was reimbursed to Wisconsin through a federal refugee medical assistance program.

With about 40 percent of the refugees expected to be children, Appleton schools will play a major role in the resettlement.

Lee Allinger, Appleton’s school superintendent, said language assessments will help determine special placement for the kids. McKinley Elementary, Roosevelt Middle School and Appleton North High School have newcomer programs geared toward transition and English development.

“Education is a main focus toward acclimating any group to the Fox Valley and Appleton,” Allinger said. “We’re a very willing partner in this effort and we know the community will come together to support these new families.”

Calling Wisconsin home

More than 70,000 refugees and former refugees live in Wisconsin. The vast majority, or about 55,000, are Hmong from Laos. Other groups are from Vietnam, Cambodia, the former Soviet Union and others, according to the DCF statistics.

The influx of Hmong refugees has been sewn into local culture, said Kole Oswald, an Appleton alderman. Hmong arrived in sporadic waves from the 1980s through the early 2000s.

In the 2010 census, 5,472 people identified as Hmong in Outagamie and Winnebago counties.