Somali American United Council of

The purpose of the Federal grant is to support ethnic community based organization leaders with leadership workshops, digital literacy, and to support their organizations to serve refugees with English as a second language, citizenship preparation classes, women empowerment programs and youth enrichment and development. We also provide them with resources and referrals to other community service centers. We work with the following seven organizations: Bhutanese community of Arizona, Iraqi community of Arizona, Congolese united community of Arizona, Darfur community, Sudanese American house, Sudanese American house of Arizona and Tusame group association.

Maricopa Community Foundation Non Profit Assistance Grant - The program is to help Refugee Women, Youth to recover from the pandemic's negative impact by establishing programs that lead them toward recovering and self-sufficiency, includes WEP, professional sewing, digital literacy, youth development and enrichment programs, preschool and other critically needed services, education and empowerment. The beauty of this program is that these Refugees are starting their own business producing dresses, pillowcases, quilts, and shirts that they have been able tosale to community members. After successfully completing the program, the women are provided with their own sewing machine, they become excited, and see this opportunity to start a Social Entrepreneurship or social-entrepreneurship business and bring an extra income to their homes. The COVID-19 crisis has tested our resolve and performance, and SAUC Refugee Community Center has been committed to stay the course by keeping the Community Center open all through the Pandemic period toensure adequate delivery services and to continue the educational and empowerment programs for all the multiethnic refugees, including newcomer Afghans, while implementing relevant precautionary measures,this is a testimony to our endurance and to stay always in course and not get shaken out of the difficult situation. In the Pandemic's period we have all faced hardship, but we feel blessed to have been surrounded by love, care, and hope as we look forward to the future. Refugees and Immigrants are the most impacted by the economic losses of the coronavirus pandemic; and the COVID-19 crisis has affected all our lives,with refugees and immigrants the hardest hit. SAUC is always actively working to ensure that multiethnic refugees have the information, support, and resources they need during this critical time. In the Pandemic's period, SAUC provided economic relief programs to the multiethnic refugees who qualified for rent and utility assistance through City of Phoenix, and provided other critically needed services for the Multiethnic refugee and under served community in Maricopa County.SAUC was successful in providing basic needs and responding to the immediate crisis, and when the pandemic first came, we took the necessary actions for prevention measures and for slowing the spread of the Virus (COVID 19), without ever closing our Refugee Community Center and remaining active in all the unprecedented Pandemic's period, helping refugees for their needed services, educationand empowerment.In conclusion, the COVID-19 Pandemic has changed many aspects of our lives, and it remind us of our temporary and fragile place in this World. Some of the learned experience is about what can be achieved when we work together to solve our most pressing challenges. SAUC is committed to provide the best quality services to the multiethnic refugee community residing in Maricopa County; offering not only access to enriching and developmental activities, but also safe, positive, healthy andcaring environment. SAUC always strive to serve with kindness and humanity, and listen attentively to the need of the multi ethnic refugees and act upon those needs in a timely manner. To continuously increase the SAUCs employees capabilities for performing efficiently their duties we always plan, organize and conduct a professional on-job training and design proper staff development programs. SAUC feeltruly humbled and blessed, and would like to thank he Maricopa County leadership so very much, and everyone who are helping us in accomplishing our goals through the way, giving us the opportunity to work and collaborate together.