Team Meeting, Matching Grant, Lawn Mowing
Days 31 to 33
8/20
Today we had our third consecutive weekly team meeting. We always start with a team meeting each week for several weeks. It’s important to make sure than we’re all on the same page. Only a few team members were available for the team meeting tonight.
8/21
Today was an important step in the resettlement process. The matching grant coordinator from LSS came out to get a signature from a refugee family member in approval of the matching grant.
With the paperwork signed, the family is now poised to receive some money each month for the next 3-4 months. This money allows them to cover basic expenses while searching for employment. The advantage for us, the resettlement team, is that we don’t have to deal with state welfare services during this time frame. If employment is gained within a few months we will never have to deal with the welfare system!
The family went grocery shopping again today. This time they were shown how to use their food assistance card. It works much like a debit card as it can be swiped through the credit/debit machine and the money is accessed with a pin number.
The family needed toilet paper. This is not covered by the food card. A good lesson in this for the family is that they cannot just buy anything they want and expect that its expense will be covered.
8/22
One of our team members went to the house today and showed them how to use their lawn mower to cut their grass. Safety is always important so this was also part of the discussion.
While at the house our team member also opened the discussion of employment. He had some initial discussions with family members regarding job skills.
