Learning to love school in a foreign land

An ambitious plan for the 69-acre Regent Park neighborhood is disrupting entrenched notions of class, race and religion, at a time when concerns over income inequality and immigration are growing.

A nonprofit organization, the Internationals Network for Public Schools, delivers a first-class education to the children of illegal immigrants, helping to break the cycle of poverty and provide them a path to advance in life.

Many young Latina women live their lives in fear of gang violence. The Montgomery County Street Outreach Network rescues girls in danger and offers services to them in order to help them change their chances of success.

Pomegranate Kitchen in Wellington, New Zealand employees refugee women from around the world. The kitchen, which operates collaboratively rather than in a hierarchy, encourages these chefs to grow their cooking and managerial strengths as well as overcome cultural boundaries in order to become financially independent.

Comal Heritage Food Incubator trains immigrant and refugee women to start their own businesses in the food industry. Comal offers coaching, financial support, and connections to social services. It also pays trainees, which has been vital to endure the food industry shutdowns during the Covid-19 pandemic. The group also ensures members have food, rent assistance, school supplies, or diapers for their children. They partner with the Denver Metro Emergency Food Network, delivering about 290,000 meals since the pandemic began. The model is working in other cities, including Seattle and San Francisco.

The Jesuit Refugee Service (JRS) provides basic necessities, hot showers, English classes, and social interaction for refugees in Greece. JRS also opened a Women Day Centre which catered specifically to the needs of refugee women, providing them with health care, clothing, showers, and haircuts.

Several organizations provide resources such as food, water, shelter, employment, and immigration assistance to the Marshallese community in northwest Arkansas. The unique immigration status of citizens from the Marshall Islands causes confusion even amongst government workers who aren’t always aware of how to help.

Non-citizen residents of Takoma Park, Maryland have been able to vote in municipal elections since 1993, and 16- and 17-year-olds there have had access to the ballot since 2013. Residents of the city, where roughly 30% of the population was born outside of the United States, say participating in city elections makes them feel more welcome in the community and helps them get invested in local issues.

Montana's Indian Education for All program ensures that both Native and non-Native students have the opportunity to learn the history and culture of local Indigenous peoples, such as through an experiential bison harvest.

New Kituwah Academy Elementary provides immersive language education for members of the Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians, helping to keep the band’s language and culture alive. Students speak exclusively in Cherokee until third grade and then use both English and Cherokee throughout the school day to build proficiency in both languages.