Resettlement Funding

Resettlement Funding For Refugees in San Diego

Two federal grant programs provide funding to four resettlement agencies that work in San Diego.  Both programs stem from national legislation. 

• The first is the Federal Matching Grant Program.  It provides for rent payment for a limit of 4 months as well as a cash amount of $200 for each adult and $80 for each child for each of these months.  In addition, each adult may receive $60 a month for transportation costs.  This grant assumes that refugees will have learned enough English within four months to find a job to support their family.   These cases are called “free” cases as they are independent of other family help.
  
  
• The second funding source is the Wilson/Fisher grants.  Three of the resettlement agencies in San Diego receive these funds as well as the Federal Matching Grants.  Refugee families are eligible for benefits from only one of these grants.  The Wilson/Fisher grants provide more cash for a family as they last for 8 months, but the payments stop as soon as one of the family members obtains a job.  This program is referred to as a “sponsored” program as it depends on the new family having the agreement of another refugee family to initially accept them into their home, and to help them obtain an apartment and fill out their official paperwork such as social security card, enrollment in welfare benefits (medi-cal and food stamps).  This grant provides no rent payment but has a sliding cash scale.  One person receives $359 a month.  Two persons in the group receive $584.  A family of 3 receives $723, a family of 4 receives $862 and the limit is a family of 5 at $980.

 

The Role of the St. Luke’s Refugee Network

The Refugee Network exists today because the above resettlement programs have limited goals, set by the funding provisions.  The grants need supplementing if the refugees are to become fully-participating citizens of the United States of America.  For example, refugees may be left without support by the resettlement agencies if they take a job and lose it, as frequently happens with low-paid hourly jobs.  Their support system has been exhausted and they must rely on poverty provisions such as Welfare, if they qualify on a personal basis.  Often one small salary cannot keep a whole family. Bad luck may strike a family through illness or injury to a family member.  Although Medical is available, it does not meet all needs and most often means that refugees use the emergency room for even small illnesses.  Most of the families we are talking about survive on monthly take home pay of  between $1,500 and $1,900 per month (based on annual incomes of between $20,800 and $25,000) for families of between 5 and 6 individuals.  With rent for a 2 bedroom 1 bath apartment in mid-city running between $950 and $1,200 per month, leaves very little for other necessities such as food, electricity, phone, clothing, transportation to and from work, etc...  The end of the month is an extremely difficult time for mothers who have pre-school children and who have jobs outside the home.  This is when we receive the largest number of requests for assistance.   

Transportation to medical visits and regular appointments ( e.g. sickle cell anemia blood transfusions) are needed if the family cannot afford to buy a car, or cannot get a license owing to lack of driving experience.  The Network is called on in these cases, and others, and can respond only to the extent that it receives sufficient donations to provide a driver, translator and salaries for outreach workers.